Homemade Sausage Recipe, Brazil style

I consulted three different recipes online before coming up with this recipe. If you wanted a little more "scrapple" of a sausage, do add some cornmeal to the mix. I didn't, and it was just fine. If anything, perhaps a little too heavy on the sage; next time I'll use a little less fresh.

It's hard to find fresh pork here and not a soul would grind it for me, even when I asked oh-so-nicely. Pão de Açucar supermarket had fresh pork in the meat section, right between the chicken and the beef. There were about 15 trays, tops. Not a lot of variety. I wavered between the options: toucinho? barriga? lombo? before deciding to use a small tray of barriga suína that seemed to have the right mix of fat to meat. You want about a 30% fat, 70% lean mix, though of course that varies with personal taste. The barriga did have a few pieces of bone and really tough cartilage, so you need to prep this before tossing it into the food processor!

One pound (apx 500 g) barriga suína (with plenty of fat)
1 teaspoon salt, preferably sea salt or heavier grind
2-3 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves (sálvia)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (pimenta do reino)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (pimenta calabresa)
2 T maple syrup (or use brown sugar)
1/4 teaspoon marjoram (manjerona)
1 teaspoon thyme (tomilho)
1/8 teaspooon ground cloves (cravo)
(I used 1/4 teaspoon of a speculoos mix that included both of these sweet spices)
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (noz moscada)
1 big clove garlic, minced (alho)

Toss your meat in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes, which will help make it easier to cut and grind. While the meat chills, mix up your spices in a large bowl. To taste test, mix well, then sprinkle a pinch of the mix over a piece of bread of bland cheese. Taste, adjust seasonings as necessary. Remove meat from freezer. Chop into pieces and separate the fat if possible. Whir the fat in a food processor until it becomes creamy, and dump into the bowl with spices. Next, grind your meat. You don't want to make a puree here, so use a pulsing action. When it is ground sufficiently, add to the fat and spices, and mix well. Form into patties and fry, or freeze. I made logs, wrapped them in plastic wrap, tinfoil and ziplocked. They should last a long time frozen...if we can resist that long!