Ossenworst

Ossenworst, literally ox sausage, is a raw beef sausage that comes from Amsterdam. It was first made from ox meat, a trade that grew in the seventeenth century when oxen were imported on a large scale from Denmark and Germany. Its seasoning reflects the spice trade of the same period: pepper, cloves, mace and nutmeg, all of which came from the Dutch East Indies. Traditionally the sausage used aged beef and was smoked at a low temperature so that the meat stayed raw. Modern Amsterdam ossenworst is made with lean beef, and the sausage is now often neither smoked nor aged. It remains a specialty of the city and appears on lists of both sausages and smoked foods.