The word is believed to be derived from Middle Frenchcervelas or servelat, originating from Old Italiancervellato ; ultimately from the Latin cerebrus Originally a pig brain sausage particularly associated with Switzerland. Its first known use in the English language in this meaning was 1784.
Ingredients
Although the saveloy was traditionally made from pork brains, the ingredients of a shop-bought sausage are typically pork, water, rusk, pork fat, potato starch, salt, emulsifiers, white pepper, spices, dried sage, preservatives, and beef collagen casing. The saveloy is mostly eaten with chips.
The saveloy is available in Australia and New Zealand where it is consumed at fairs, fêtes, agricultural shows and sporting events, served deep fried in batter known as a Hotdog At the turn of the 20th century, the saveloy was described in an Australian court case as a "highly seasoned dry sausage originally made of brains, but now young pork, salted" but by the mid-century, it was commonly defined by its size as a 19 cm sausage, as opposed to a frankfurter at 26 cm. This distinction may be due to the frankfurter's popularisation. Despite "frankfurter" sausage makers being the target of violence in World War I, the story that saveloys were once frankfurters, renamed due to anti-German sentiment, is purely apocryphal, as far as Australia is concerned. Saveloys are popular in New Zealand and Australia, where they are larger than the English type. In Australia, saveloys are usually a beef-pork blend. In New Zealand, saveloys are usually a lamb-pork-beef blend Another Australian variant, the "battered sav", while not as common as it once was, used wheat flour batter with no corn in the mixture and, like its English counterpart, was sold in fish-and-chip shops and had no stick. A cocktail sausage is a smaller version of the saveloy, about a quarter of the size - in Australia sometimes called a "baby sav", a "footy frank" or a "little boy", and in New Zealand called a "cheerio." These are a popular children's party food in New Zealand and Australia, often served hot alongside tomato sauce.
United Kingdom
Saveloys are popular in the North East of England where they are eaten hot in a sandwich with pease pudding. Children also eat them with the skins removed as a soft snack, and they can be bought from most local butchers. In The Pickwick Papers Solomon Pell, an attorney at the Insolvent Court, is described as "regaling himself, business being rather slack, with a cold collation of an Abernethy biscuit and a saveloy". Saveloy is also eaten by Fagin in Oliver Twist., and it also appears in the 1968 musical film based on the novel, directed by Carol Reed, when it is mentioned in the number "Food, Glorious food." One is bought by I in the 1987 filmWithnail and I.
United States
A type of hot dog which is almost indistinguishable from the saveloy is popular in the state of Maine, where it is commonly known as a "red hot" or "red snapper". It is usually grilled or boiled as is common in the UK.
