I was recently described as a food snob – a label I balk at given my periodic need for a McDonalds Big Mac, my unhealthy affection for whatever Velveeta is, and my unabashed love for all types of sausage.
While I don't consider myself a food snob, I do acknowledge a natural gravitation towards foods whose flavor masks the fact that they may very well foreshorten my life – especially in contrast to the cardboard-tasting “healthy” alternatives. A life without good food is not a life; and certainly not one worth living. I once saw an article that said consuming one sausage a day could increase one’s cancer risk by 20 percent. I hope that isn't the case in the same way that I hope gluttony doesn't turn out to be one of the seven cardinal sins; however in the latter case I am prepared in the off-chance and have reserved my table in the great restaurant of Lucifer’s infernal hotel where I, in-turn, become the multi-course meal.
I feel no remorse knowing my minuscule Parisian refrigerator will smell of Camembert weeks after I have devoured the pungent cheese, and I feel no hesitation in cooking up large Saucisses de Toulouse for my dinner tonight. As a great author, poet and food writer once said, how easily we forget that life overexamined is also not worth living.
Growing up in St. Louis, eating sausages was de rigueur. Hot dogs at the Cardinals’ game were part of childhood and bratwursts were beside the burgers on the grill at every cook-out; served with baked beans and potato salad. Though not the most glamorous of cuisines, a simple, well-cooked bratwurst satisfies like little else and I will gladly choose a Papaya King hot dog over quinoa or some Whole Foods stir fry bowl when in a hurry.
My beer-poached saucisses
My first apartment in New York City was in the Alphabet City section of Manhattan's East Village where I was in close proximity to two master sausage cookers, Crif Dog and Zum Schneider.
Crif Dog is located on St. Marks Place near the corner of Avenue A and is home to inspired hotdog specialties. One example of their fare is the BLT dog, a bacon-wrapped hot dog, served with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on a toasted bun; or the Spicy Redneck, which comes wrapped in bacon and covered in chili, coleslaw and jalapeños. Living within the delivery zone, we would order their Crif Paks, which are about ten dollars per person and they bring a random and customized meal. Once two of us received four specialty hot dogs, tater-tots, a can of root beer and a chocolate malt. I couldn't have asked for better.
Four blocks up from my apartment was Zum Schneider, an outstanding German restaurant and Bavarian Bierhaus, where even during our most financially-limited of times we would go for the Wiener mit Brot or Weisswurst appetizers. The Wiener mit Brot were two bratwursts which came in wonderful home-baked rolls with a good spicy mustard and the Wiesswurst was served in a bowl of hot water with a Bavarian soft pretzel and three choices of mustard. This was my first true introduction to German-style sausages.
Zum Schneider – Borrowed from zumschneider.com
When I left New York for San Francisco, I spent several months living with my relatives where Bangers and Mash were an easy meal that we would have on a semi-regular basis. We would quarter potatoes and boil them until soft, drain and mash them adding milk and butter to taste and consistency and then salt and pepper them while cooking good pork sausages on the grill - a wonderful meal served with mustard and a salad on the side.
On my initial visit to France I ate saucisson my first night in Paris. I was staying with a friend and his (now) wife. Upon my arrival they sliced the dry cured pork sausage and made a plate with a baguette, fresh salted butter and brie cheese. To my knowledge there exists no better welcome to one's country and one's home.
Recently while walking along the Seine near Notre Dame, I went towards Le Marais and found a cafe with a shaded outdoor terrace that was open for lunch and had a terrific Andouillette cooked in mustard and served with potatoes gratin, roasted vegetables and washed down with the chilled local product.
The terrible realization that what happened here should have been documented.
The French love sausage so much they've created the “Association Amicale des Amateurs d’Andouillette Authentique (AAAAA)” or “The Friendly Club of Lovers of Authentic Andouillette”, which gives certificates to high-quality producers. I was fortunate to enjoy one such Andouillette on my drive from Chenonceau to Chambord while in the Loire Valley.
In its most basic definition, a sausage is seasoned and encased minced meat. It can be dried, cured, boiled, baked, grilled or prepared in a variety of methods and consisting of an imaginative range of ingredients.
Once on Manhattan's Upper East Side I had french-style baked eggs with spicy chorizo for breakfast in a Franco-Mexican restaurant and have been challenged to find a more stimulating start to the day. No cup of coffee wakes you up like the fire in your mouth from a good spicy Mexican sausage.
Now at home in my apartment I cook my own style of bangers and mash, combining pork sausages - seared in butter, poached in beer - with purée aligot; an outstanding French version of mashed potatoes adding cheese for a rich, creamy side dish.
George Eliot once said, "there are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger after them." I like to believe she was talking about sausages.