Kabanos Sausage

Kabanos sausage is a Polish sausage.  Kabanos sausage is NOT the same as cabanossi sausage – even though the names sound similar, kabanos and cabanossi are completely different kinds of sausage.

Kabanos sausages are long and skinny as you can see on this picture of me holding a bunch of kabanos sausages in my hand. Kabanos has a dry texture and tastes smoky and peppery.  Even though you can taste the black pepper, it is not really spicy.

Kabanos sausage is traditionally made with pork.  The name “Kabanos” comes from “Kaban” which means a pig in Poland (and also in Russia).  However, there are now also Kabanos sausages made from chicken – they are labeled as “chicken kabanos”.  In fact, the kabanos on this picture are the chicken kabanos.

When I was buying the kabanos, I asked the person in the counter how long can I store them.  He said that they will keep in the refrigerator for several months – because they are dry sausages, they’ll just dry up even more instead of spoiling.  I don’t know if I’d take a chance on that one :) I kept my chicken cabanas in refrigerator for just a week, and then made a super-yummy easy sausage jambalaya with them.