When you visit Lyon, you cannot miss out on these great charcuterie specialities!
Originating in the Beaujolais area, the rosette sausage, which can be a metre long, is made from high-quality pork which is stuffed into natural sausage skin, strung, then put to dry for between two to six months, to give it a strong, distinctive flavour. The meat has a well-distributed red and white grainy appearance, and is more finely minced than in the jésus variety.
The jésus is much fatter and shorter. It is encased in netting, which gives it an attractive pear shape. High-quality pork is also used to make this sausage, a mixture of lean and hard fat, and it is dried over a period of weeks. This prestigious sausage was named after Baby Jesus in his swaddling clothes, as it is similar in shape.
The two sausage varieties used to be kept for special occasions like weddings or communion feasts. Now they are often served with a good local red wine, with an aperitif or as a starter.