Cervelat Cervelat Cervelat, also cervelas, servelat or zervelat, is a sausage produced in Switzerland, France (especially Alsace and Lyon) and parts of Germany. The recipe and preparation of the sausage vary regionally. The sausages are called "cervelas" in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, "Cervelat" in the German-speaking part, and "servelat" in the Italian-speaking part. The terms ultimately derive from "cerebrum", the Latin word for brain, which was used in early recipes. The term "Cervelat" is the oldest of the three. It was first recorded in 1552 by Rabelais, and is derived from "zervelada", a Milanese dialect word meaning a "large, short
Cervelat Among these were beef intestines. Although Switzerland is not an EU member state, it is bound to observe European food protection laws through other treaty agreements. Hence, Swiss and German stockpiles of zebu intestines became very low by 2008, threatening production altogether, and causing some controversy in Switzerland. In January of that year, the Swiss meat industry announced that a national "cervelat task force" had failed in an exhaustive search for an acceptable alternative to zebu intestines. The "New York Times" noted that "the possible demise of cervelas visibly upset the Swiss, a normally even-tempered people." The cervelat production crisis