The
etymology of the word
haslet is slightly complicated, it comes from the
Middle English hastelet, which comes from the
Old French. Or ultimately from the
Latin hasta meaning a
spear. It may even have a
Germanic origin.
Hannah Glasse a 18th century cook defined haslet :-
'as the liver, crow, kidney and skirts of a hog'
Dr. Johnson gave the alternative spelling in 1755 of
harslet and defined it as :-
‘the heart, liver, and lights of a hog, with the windpipe and part of the throat to it'
This is not as bad as it sounds, as today (at least in the UK) haslet is more like a lightly
spiced sausage meat. It tends to be
mottled in texture and is cooked in a large loaf, it's firm
texture means it can thinly sliced and makes an ideal
sandwich meat.