 | |
| Type | Sausage wrapped in pastry |
|---|---|
| Course | Hors d'oeuvre |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Main ingredients | Cocktail sausage, hot dog, or other sausage, crescent rolls or other pastry |
| Variations | Filled with cheese |
In the United States, pigs in a blanket are small hot dogs or other sausages individually wrapped in pastry. It is commonly served as an appetizer.
In the United States the term "pigs in a blanket" typically refers to hot dogs in croissant dough, but may include Vienna sausages, cocktail or breakfast/link sausages baked inside biscuit dough or croissant dough. American cookbooks from the 1800s have recipes for "little pigs in blankets", [1] but this is a rather different dish of oysters rolled in bacon similar to angels on horseback. The modern version can be traced back to at least 1940, when a U.S. Army cookbook lists "Pork Sausage Links (Pigs) in Blankets". [2]
The dough is sometimes homemade, but canned dough is most common. Pancake dough is also sometimes used, although this combination is more commonly served like a corn dog and sold as a pancake on a stick. The larger variety is served as a quick and easy main course or a light meal (particularly for children) at lunch or supper while the smaller version is served as an appetizer. In Texas, kolaches or klobasneks are a similar dish which originates from Czech immigrants. The meat or savory part, often a sausage but not always, is wrapped in kolache dough and not croissant dough. This dish in Texas is most commonly referred to as "kolache", although traditional Czech-style kolaches are a sweet dish, not a savory dish. [3]
Smaller versions of the dish are commonly served as an appetizer or hors d'oeuvre, sometimes with a mustard or aioli dipping sauce, or are accompanied by other foods during the main course.[ citation needed ]
The cuisines of a number of countries have similar dishes under a variety of names.
In Belgium, this is a traditional dish from the city of Namur, where it is called avisance. Historically it was a sausage or sausage meat in bread dough, replaced nowadays with puff pastry. [4]
In Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, a hot dog wrapped in bread is called a fransk hot dog (lit. 'french hot dog'). [5] The name is a reference to the bread's similarity to a baguette. In Denmark and Norway, American-style pigs in a blanket are known as pølsehorn, meaning "sausage horns".
The German Würstchen im Schlafrock ("sausage in a dressing gown") uses sausages wrapped in puff pastry [6] or, more rarely, pancakes. Cheese and bacon are sometimes present.
In the Netherlands, Saucijzenbroodje is a puff pastry roll filled with seasoned minced meat. [7]
In the United Kingdom and Australia, pastry-wrapped sausage meat is known as a sausage roll.
