Homemade garlic sausage (Kovbasa domashnya)

1. Soak the casings in lukewarm water for 30 minutes, then rinse them thoroughly inside too by holding one end under the tap and letting water run through.

2. Cut the pork shoulder and the fatback into 1-2 cm cubes – Ukrainian homemade sausage is characteristically chopped, not minced – cutting the fat smaller than the meat.

3. Add the crushed garlic, ground allspice, crumbled marjoram, salt, pepper and cold water to the meat and fat and knead firmly by hand for a few minutes until the mixture is slightly sticky; cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

4. Slide the casing onto the stuffer nozzle or a wide funnel, tie off the end and fill it with the mixture, not too tightly; twist every 20-25 cm or coil it into a spiral, and prick any air bubbles with a needle.

5. Preheat the oven to 170 °C, lay the sausage in a roasting tin greased with the lard, pour half a glass of water underneath and bake for about 1 hour, turning once, until browned all over and the juices run clear.

6. Serve hot with boiled or roast potatoes, horseradish, mustard and pickles; it's also excellent sliced cold.

Tip: If you don't have a stuffer, the neck of a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off works as a funnel; without casings you can shape the mixture into long logs and bake them on baking paper.