Hot on the heels of damsons, ales, apples and organics, comes the Cumberland sausage the secrets' of which are about to be revealed in another of the trail-blazing leaflets from the good offices of Cumbria Fells and Dales Leader+, the European funding programme which has done so much to boost the fortunes of local food and drink producers.

Sausage Secrets a weighty little tome put together by Anna Gray of Leader+ - takes sausage enthusiasts on a fascinating journey in search of the true story behind the ever-popular Cumberland Ring.

It is a fitting tribute to a traditional favourite and perfect timing in terms of publication as this is National Sausage Week.

In fact, Britain is a nation of sausage lovers with more than 90 per cent of households putting bangers regularly on their shopping list. Someone somewhere has even calculated that the country consumed a staggering 266,500 tonnes last year.

British Sausage Week, organised by The British Sausage Appreciation Society, celebrates the taste and variety of the sausage there are more than 400 individually-named varieties in Britain alone.

The Cumberland sausage is one of the most famous and has been a local speciality for around 500 years.

"The fat coiled ropes of sausage meat are a distinctive sight in many local butchers' windows, with each producer closely guarding their secret' recipe," says Anna.

Although it remains a mystery how the Cumberland sausage came to acquire its special shape and taste, Anna's research has revealed that perhaps the coiled loops provided the only practical means of combining all the ingredients in a single skin.

"Another possibility is that they were invented' by the German miners who came to Cumbria during Elizabeth I's reign as a reminder of the thick meaty sausages that the miners were used to eating in Germany.

"Whatever the historical provenance of the Cumberland sausage, it soon became a well established feature on the household menu in Cumbria."

Historically, the sausage was more highly seasoned than it is today. This is largely attributed to the influx of exotic spices into Whitehaven during the 18th century when the town prospered as the third largest port in the country.

"During this time Cumbria was introduced to black pepper, ginger and nutmeg, as well as other foodstuffs such as sugar, molasses and rum. Many of these ingredients have been incorporated into some of Cumbria's local specialities, such as Grasmere gingerbread and Cumberland rum nicky, as well as the spicy Cumberland sausage," explains Anna in Sausage Secrets.

Down the years a local variety of pig was bred that was suited to the cooler and wetter climate of Cumbria. It was known as the Cumberland pig heavy with a thick layer of fat, an upturned snout and ears that flopped forwards. Unfortunately, the last representative of the breed died at Bothel around 1960.

Cumberland sausage is, of course, identified by its distinctive shape and texture.

"Most sausages are divided into links but the Cumberland sausage is one continuous rope-like coil that is sold by weight or length. The sausage is typically filled with coarsely chopped pork and black pepper, and sometimes other ingredients such as herbs and other spices. The meat content is high occasionally up to 98% but more usually there is at least 85% meat (a mixture of lean and fat) with the remainder being cereal or rusk (to act as a binding agent), spices and other flavourings."

The closely-guarded recipes were passed down the generations and, today, many butchers still use recipes that date back a hundred years or more.

Like Whitstable oysters, and Jersey Royal potatoes, action is now being taken to protect the distinctive characteristics of the Cumberland sausage through European legislation, which would give it protected status under the Protection of Geographical Indication (PGI) directive.

"If successful this means that the sausage cannot be called traditional Cumberland sausage unless it meets certain criteria to do with its meat content, ingredients, processing and place of origin," explained Anna.

Which nicely leads me into my usual soap box on the subject of sausages.

Please, please, please support the genuine article by purchasing your bangers from reputable producers high street butchers, local and speciality food shops, for example. Because the meat content is so high you are guaranteed a product which is not only tasty and packed full of goodness, but one which will also be infinitely more filling than other pretenders to the throne and, therefore, better value for money because you won't need to eat so many to fill you up.

Grill or fry your sausages by all means but do ring the changes occasionally with the likes of some of this week's special recipes from the British Sausage Appreciation Society.