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Saucisson began as a way to preserve leftover cuts of meat. Today, it represents one of France’s largest charcuterie markets, with most of it produced at industrial scale. In this episode, we visit Domaine Abotia in the Basque Country, where a sixth-generation farm is redefining saucisson as a high-end, regionally driven product. We examine how heavier pigs, longer aging, and full control over production challenge the industrial model.
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00:04Saucisson sec is one of France's most iconic foods.
00:07The country produces more than a million tons of charcuterie each year,
00:12with the total market generating nearly 15 billion euros annually.
00:19Unlike prestigious hams or aged cheeses,
00:23Saucisson was born as a way to reuse scrap meat.
00:26Today, that reputation has made it one of the easiest products to industrialize.
00:32But a small number of producers are taking a very different approach.
00:37Today we're in Saint-Jean-Piedeport in the Basque country to visit Domaine Abortia,
00:42a Saucisson producer that treats Saucisson with the same care and importance as wine.
00:48You can see, in fact, the beautiful vineyards behind me.
00:51Why did you decide to raise the Saucisson at the level of jambon and wine?
00:57Because we like the good things.
00:59We're going to meet with Peyo. He's going to talk us through how Saucisson is made.
01:04And we're going to learn everything about how actually Saucisson can have a regional identity.
01:09We're in the Basque country. This is a region that's very rich, has a rich cultural heritage,
01:15and of course, gastronomic heritage.
01:18Lourd, gras, vieux,
01:20voilà, qui amène le caractère à la viande.
01:24And he's also going to talk us through how such a humble product,
01:27Lyssaucisson, made from leftover meat,
01:29can turn into a luxury and a product that you really seek out.
01:37Hello Claudia, you're in the middle of the Basque country,
01:40above Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, on the village d'Ispour,
01:43on the property of Domaine Abotia.
01:50Here we work on 8 hectares.
01:528 hectares of vine, all on the grass, on 75% of the grass.
01:56Domaine Abotia dates back to 1896.
01:58Though Peio says his family's farming roots here go back even further,
02:04at least six generations.
02:08Originally known for wine,
02:10the farm has always raised animals too,
02:13but the meat was processed elsewhere.
02:15In 2023, Peio opened his own on-site butchery,
02:19bringing the entire process in-house.
02:23Each week, Abotia processes around 85 to 90 pigs,
02:28yielding roughly 1.5 tonnes of meat,
02:31which produces ham, saucisson, chorizo and fresh cuts.
02:40Overseeing every stage is essential for Peio.
02:43This is the port Abotia, the port-carcasse.
02:46It's 151 kilos of carcasses.
02:48It's a fish of 190 kilos.
02:50It was killed yesterday,
02:52yesterday morning,
02:54and then it was transported this morning.
02:57And now, it's on the découpe of today.
03:02What temperature are we here?
03:03Here, in the découpe, we're at about 6 degrees.
03:05And then we're at 3-4 degrees.
03:08Historically, Saucisson was made from whatever remained,
03:11after the price cuts were set aside.
03:15At Abotia, though, it begins with a deliberate choice,
03:18the shoulder.
03:19A lean, well-structured cut,
03:21along with trimmings from Bayonne Ham,
03:24one of France's most prestigious hams.
03:27In fact, is it possible to be a producer of saumon de saucisson?
03:30To produce saumon de saucisson?
03:32We can be it,
03:33but we devalorize the meat.
03:37That's the part to make the saucisson.
03:40Oh, wow.
03:41So, it's…
03:42It comes from the calf's leg.
03:44It's almost weak, in fact.
03:45Yes, it's weak.
03:47Yes, it's weak.
03:47Yes, yes, yes.
03:48There are some who add fat
03:50to make the material balance
03:51and to gain the weight.
03:53But here, we can see
03:54that it's just a centimeter of fat.
03:56And when you touch the fat, it's hard.
03:59The meat is firm.
04:02The shoulder and the ham trimmings are ground,
04:05then mixed with salt and pepper.
04:08So, here, we have the pork that we have cut this morning.
04:11So, we have the famous 3D pork,
04:14which we have degenerated,
04:16and then we have the jambons that we have seen.
04:18The meat is very, very firm.
04:20Yes, it's very, very thick.
04:22Yes, it's very, very thick.
04:23Yes, because there's a bit of meat,
04:25but since the meat has a very, very good structure,
04:27we don't need to add a lot of fat.
04:28Unlike most industrial saucissons,
04:31which is typically stuffed into synthetic casings,
04:35Abotia uses natural pig intestines,
04:37another way of using every part of the animal.
04:40So, we're going to use this boyau,
04:42this famous boyau of our chickens,
04:45it's an echaudin of pork.
04:46Wow.
04:47We're going to do the first material of the pork Abotia.
04:50And what is the difference between the boyau synthetics?
04:55Does it bring something to the saucissons?
04:58It brings a lot more flavor.
04:59So, it comes from which part of the animal?
05:02It comes from the intestine.
05:04Wow.
05:28It's crucial that that loss of moisture is gradual.
05:33The meat ferment a little bit,
05:35and it coagulates,
05:36it transforms into lactate acid.
05:38And then, from there,
05:40we do it in several phases.
05:41And once the product is well secured,
05:43we can put it naturally,
05:47around 15-16 degrees.
05:49We won't heat too much,
05:50because otherwise,
05:50we don't want it to grow,
05:52and we want it to be naturally.
05:54Here, there are different rooms
05:56for each stage of the curing process.
05:59Abotia produces up to 600 kilograms of saucisson
06:02every week.
06:04Here, we are in a saucisson.
06:08What temperature is here?
06:10We are at 18 hours,
06:11and we are at 73,7 hours of humidity.
06:13Here, this is our saucisson.
06:16With this flower,
06:18they are almost dry.
06:20Here, we find the saucisson.
06:23And here,
06:24we find our petite saucisson sèche
06:26all the time.
06:27The flower that is under the saucisson,
06:29is it a particular name?
06:30No, it's a natural flower.
06:32We have a seed just once,
06:35and then,
06:35every time we put the saucisson,
06:37it comes naturally.
06:39Flavoured differences come down
06:40to time and thickness.
06:42Smaller sausages age for about four weeks,
06:45the standard saucisson for seven,
06:47and the largest even longer.
06:50And then,
06:50we have a big saucisson.
06:51You can see it there?
06:53Yes.
06:54Yes.
06:55if we go over there,
06:57we find the big saucisson,
06:59we call it the Jesus.
07:01Okay.
07:02And there,
07:03we have nine weeks.
07:04Why do you call it Jesus?
07:07I don't know.
07:08It's a joke?
07:11It's not blasphémic?
07:12No,
07:12it's lion.
07:14It's lion.
07:14Because we are on the Chaman
07:16of Santiago,
07:17of Saint-Jacques.
07:18So,
07:19it's a reference religious?
07:20Maybe,
07:20but I don't know.
07:21Okay.
07:22And in fact,
07:23the bayou here,
07:24it's different?
07:24It's a bayou of beef.
07:26Okay.
07:27Here,
07:28we are on the Lae Chaudin,
07:29and here,
07:29we are on the bayou of beef.
07:30And here,
07:31we are on the bayou,
07:32the bayou synthetic,
07:34because after,
07:34when we cut off,
07:35we remove the bayou.
07:36Do you know,
07:37in the industry production,
07:38normally,
07:38the saucisson,
07:40for how long?
07:41How long?
07:42It's very short, right?
07:43It's very similar,
07:44but we try to make the product
07:47quite hard,
07:48because the more we remove the water,
07:50the more we remove the water,
07:50the more we have the aroma
07:52in the saucisson.
07:54At scale,
07:55drying is often accelerated.
07:57Longer aging requires full control
08:00over the meat,
08:01as well as the time and resources
08:03to monitor every batch.
08:05Peyo also makes larger,
08:07two-kilogram sausages
08:08in synthetic casings,
08:10designed for slicing
08:11and sold directly to hotels.
08:13The other one is all cold.
08:16The other one is more dry.
08:18The other one is more dry.
08:18You see,
08:18the difference is that
08:19on the second two,
08:20here we are on the second six.
08:23Here,
08:23we are on the saucisson
08:24which is already well advanced.
08:26Ah, yes.
08:26Can we touch it?
08:29Can we touch it?
08:30Can we touch it?
08:30Can we touch it?
08:30Yes, yes, yes.
08:32Yes.
08:33Oh, wow.
08:34It's like this.
08:37Wow.
08:38It's going to be very good.
08:41It's fruit.
08:42How many of the saucissons are here?
08:441,500 or 1,500 of the saucissons.
08:47Okay, wow.
08:49That may sound like a lot,
08:51but it's actually
08:51a small curated selection.
08:54Peyo doesn't export.
08:56When he launched the butchery in 2023,
08:59his goal was to supply
09:00the most premium kitchens in the country.
09:03We went to look for the information
09:05at the chefs of the world
09:06to have culinary returns
09:08and we were focused on them
09:10and on the demand of the customers.
09:11But knowing that
09:13it's us who have the last one.
09:15Oof.
09:16Peyo is determined
09:17to position his products
09:18at the highest quality level.
09:21Recently, Abbottia entered
09:22for the first time
09:23the Concours Général Agricole
09:25in Paris,
09:26a major national food competition
09:28in France.
09:30The farm received
09:31two silver medals,
09:32one for its saucisson sec
09:34and one for its bayon ham.
09:36This is the list of January 13, 2026.
09:40Everything is traced
09:40and we find exactly
09:42the 3rd of the affinage week.
09:44So the same week
09:46it was made
09:49the 13th of the year
09:50and the 13th of the year
09:51it was made
09:51the same day.
09:55You said the character
09:56is to have this
09:57very heavy, right?
10:00Lourd.
10:00Lourd,
10:01gras,
10:01vieux,
10:02which brings the character
10:05to the meat.
10:06As you can see,
10:07these are the porcs
10:08who have a year
10:09and they make
10:10between 180 and 200 kg.
10:13So 140-160 kg of carcasses.
10:16You can see
10:17there's beautiful material
10:18and beautiful jambons.
10:20You can see
10:20these are beautiful things.
10:25In industrial production,
10:27pigs are typically slaughtered
10:28younger,
10:29leaner and faster,
10:30optimized for yield.
10:32Here,
10:33thyme is part of the flavour.
10:34It's the traditional
10:36of the Basque country.
10:37The porc is heavy,
10:37the porc of the farm
10:39that we used to do
10:39during the time.
10:40As a standard,
10:41we put a lot more time
10:43so we put a lot more space
10:45than 2,5 m2 per porc.
10:49That's right.
10:50So we need space
10:51so that the porc
10:52feels good,
10:53so that it can take advantage
10:54and that it can go
10:56to the end
10:56and have a good food.
11:01Around 80% of the pig's diet
11:03is corn,
11:04supplemented with non-GMO soy
11:06and other grains.
11:08Because Abbottia
11:09raises very heavy pigs,
11:11the farm works with crossbreeds
11:12that grow more slowly over time.
11:15We have a lot of duroc.
11:16Why?
11:17Because we will find
11:18this percilla meat
11:20in the porc
11:22which will allow
11:24a good refinement
11:25and a good structure
11:26on the first material
11:29for the sausage.
11:31It's Romeo and Julia.
11:32Julia are looking
11:33at the glorious balcony.
11:35I'm Romeo in this case
11:36because that's my surname
11:38and I'm looking
11:39at the beautiful balcony.
11:43These are the sausage
11:45of the porc Abbottia.
11:46They have 7 weeks
11:47of refinement.
11:47There is always
11:49this natural flower
11:49that is present
11:50and we are always
11:51on the porc
11:53of the porc
11:53in natural way.
12:00We can find
12:01the pork
12:01that is very red
12:03and well affined
12:05and the grain
12:06well divided
12:07because it's
12:09the grain
12:09that gives the taste
12:10to the pork
12:10Yes.
12:12Do you feel it?
12:14Yes.
12:17It feels very good.
12:19The sausage
12:20is cut like this
12:21in a knife?
12:22Yes.
12:24I eat it.
12:25Yes.
12:27I always keep the pork
12:28and the sausage
12:29on the side.
12:30We are on the velours,
12:31the freshness of the viands.
12:34The long hair in the mouth.
12:35Yes.
12:36It's very fresh.
12:38I like it because
12:39it's not too salty.
12:40Normally,
12:41in the charcuterie,
12:43we feel a lot of the sel.
12:46We feel that it's there,
12:48but it's there for the finish.
12:50Everything is dosing.
12:52Maybe because
12:52we saw it in the laboratory,
12:55we saw the jambon,
12:56the fabrication of the jambon,
12:57but I find a little bit
12:58that in some parts
13:00of the sausage
13:00that's a little bit
13:01I find a little bit
13:02the taste of the jambon.
13:07Is it possible?
13:08It's possible.
13:09Yes, it's possible
13:09because we find
13:10this freshness.
13:12The freshness of the viands.
13:13That's to say
13:13we cut the carcass
13:15and put it immediately
13:15in production.
13:16We take the jambon
13:17and put it immediately
13:18in the sel.
13:18There's no time
13:20to wait.
13:21And we only receive
13:22the carcass.
13:23We don't buy the viandes
13:24that have been cut
13:25for three days.
13:26We only work
13:27on the freshness
13:28and the pots.
13:30It's fantastic.
13:31But after,
13:31it has a
13:32basque character.
13:33Basque.
13:36Thank you so much for watching.
13:38Have you tried
13:39Saucison
13:39and where was it made?
13:41I love that
13:42I could really tell
13:43that this one
13:44was made in the Basque country.
13:46There was really
13:46something distinctive about it.
13:48and yeah,
13:50that made it very special.
13:51So let us know
13:51if you have tried
13:52something similar
13:53if you have something similar
13:54in your pantry.
13:57Bye bye.
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