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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.
08:14The other one is all cold.
08:16The other one is more dry.
08:18The other one is more dry.
08:18You see,
08:18we see a difference.
08:19On the second week,
08:21here,
08:21we are on the second week.
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 a small,
08:52curated selection.
08:54Peyo doesn't export.
08:56When he launched the butchery
08:57in 2023,
08:59his goal was to supply
09:00the most premium kitchens
09:02in the country.
09:03We are going to look at
09:05the information
09:05at the chefs of the world
09:06to have culinary returns
09:08and we are focused
09:09on the demand of the customers.
09:11But knowing
09:12that it's us
09:13who have the last one.
09:15Oof.
09:16Peyo is determined
09:17to position
09:18his products
09:18at the highest quality level.
09:21Recently,
09:21Abbottia 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 Ossison Seck
09:34and one for its Bayonne Ham.
09:36This is the list of
09:37January 13, 2026.
09:40Everything is traced
09:40and we will find
09:41exactly the 3rd of the season.
09:44The same week
09:48the 13th of the season.
09:50The 13th of the season
09:50and the 13th of the season
09:51was made
09:51the same day.
09:55You said
09:56that the characteristics
09:56of this animal
09:58is very heavy, right?
10:00Yes,
10:00very heavy,
10:01very heavy,
10:02which brings
10:03the character
10:05to the meat.
10:06As you can see,
10:07these are
10:08a year of age
10:09and they are
10:10between 180 and 200 kg.
10:13140-160 kg carcasses.
10:16You can see
10:17that there is
10:17beautiful material,
10:18beautiful jambons.
10:20You can see
10:20that they are
10:22beautiful
10:24animals.
10:25In industrial production,
10:27pigs
10:27are typically slaughtered
10:28younger,
10:29leaner
10:29and faster,
10:30optimized for yield.
10:32Here,
10:33thyme is part
10:34of the flavor.
10:34It's the traditional
10:36of the Basque country.
10:37It's the heavy port
10:37and the port
10:38of the farm
10:39that we did
10:39during the time.
10:40As a standard
10:41we put a lot more
10:43time,
10:43so we put a lot more
10:44space,
10:452,5 m2
10:47per port.
10:49That's right.
10:50So,
10:50we need space
10:51so that the port
10:52feels good,
10:53so that the port
10:53can take advantage
10:54and go to the end
10:56so that they can
10:58have a good
10:59meat.
11:01Around 80%
11:02of the pig's diet
11:03is corn,
11:04supplemented
11:05with non-GMO soy
11:06and other grains.
11:08Because Abotia
11:09raises very heavy
11:10pigs,
11:11the farm works
11:11with crossbreeds
11:12that grow more
11:13slowly over time.
11:15We have a lot of
11:16duroc.
11:16Why?
11:17Because we will
11:18find this
11:20persillate
11:21in the port
11:22which will allow
11:24a good
11:24refinement
11:25and a good
11:26structure
11:26on the first
11:29for the
11:30sausage.
11:30It's Romeo
11:31and Julia
11:33overlooking
11:33the glorious
11:34balcony.
11:34I'm Romeo
11:35in this case
11:36because that's
11:36my surname
11:37and overlooking
11:39a beautiful
11:40balcony.
11:43So,
11:44the sausage
11:45of the port
11:45Abotia
11:46have seven
11:46weeks.
11:47There's always
11:49this natural flower
11:49that is present
11:50and we're always
11:51on the
11:52natural
11:53in the
11:54way.
11:59We'll find
12:01the
12:01red
12:01red
12:02red
12:02and
12:04well
12:04cut
12:04and
12:05well
12:06cut
12:07and
12:08cut
12:12cut
12:13a
12:14little
12:16over.
12:17It sounds
12:18very good.
12:19The sausage
12:20is cut
12:20like that
12:21like a
12:21cut?
12:21In general,
12:22yes.
12:24I eat
12:25a little bit.
12:26Yes, I do
12:27the pot.
12:28the pot
12:28the sausage
12:29is
12:30It's very cold.
12:38I like it because it's not too salty.
12:40Normally in the charcuterie we smell a lot of salt.
12:46We feel that it's there, but it's there for the finish.
12:51Maybe because we saw it in the laboratory,
12:55we saw the jambon, the fabrication of the jambon,
12:57but I found that in some parts of the sausage,
13:01I found the taste of the jambon.
13:06Is it possible?
13:08Yes, it's possible because we found this freshness.
13:12The freshness of the sausage.
13:13We cut the carcass and put it immediately in production.
13:16We take the jambon and put it immediately in the sel.
13:19There's no time to wait.
13:21And we only receive the carcass.
13:23We don't buy the sausage that was cut in 2-3 days.
13:26We only work on the freshness.
13:28And on the raw material.
13:30It's fantastic.
13:31But then it's a fresh character.
13:33Basque.
13:36Thank you so much for watching.
13:38Have you tried Saucisson?
13:40And where was it made?
13:41I loved that I could really tell that this one was made in the Basque country.
13:46There was really something distinctive about it.
13:48And yeah, that made it very special.
13:51So let us know if you have tried something similar,
13:53if you have something similar in your pantry.
13:57Bye bye.
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