But I see this fresh, unsmoked stuff all over the place. It’s essentially a perfectly okay sausage. I’d prefer it be labeled “Cajun style” or something like that. Still, it’s so common that it’s not something i find worth fighting against. I can’t say it isn’t andouille because it’s a common enough product. I feel okay saying it’s not traditional Cajun andouille.
That’s why I used the carbonara example. I know it’s not carbonara. You know it’s not carbonara. But so many people in the US wouldn’t recognize what you or I call carbonara because we don’t use bacon, peas, and cream. That peas and cream nonsense is real, IMO. It isn’t traditional, though.
The last time I was in New Orleans I picked up some andouille from Cochon Butcher on my way out of town. I diced it up and put it in my slow cooker with dried red beans, onions, chicken stock and some herbs - fantastic.
If you want to use andouille again Huntington Meats in the Farmers’ Market has a good fresh (smoked) version and Bruce Aidells has a precooked version that’s pretty good. Both are Cajun style. The French version, as Ipse points out, is quite different being stuffed with chitterlings. I have occasionally run into pork with an unpleasant odor even though its not spoiled. Not sure why though it may have something to do with what the pigs ate.
Bruce Aidells made good andouille before he sold the brand, but the stuff Tyson labels “Cajun style andouille” is chicken sausage. Probably a better substitute for the real thing than andouille-flavored fresh pork links, but more corporate bullshit all the same.
“Fresh” as regards real andouille would mean that it was just out of the smoker, which you don’t really care about since the flavor won’t change in the near term.
In the Bay Area, several artisanal butchers including Fatted Calf and Fifth Quarter make Toulouse sausage that’s significantly better than Fabrique Delices’. I don’t know if LA has the equivalent yet.