Many, many years ago I was at a back yard cookout somewhere out of town, perhaps in Ohio or Pennsylvania—I no longer remember whose cookout it was and who was there. I didn’t really know the hosts or most of the people in attendance.
But I remember the sausages they served. I had never had that kind of sausage before and I haven’t come across one since. I’m hoping someone can help me identify it.
It was light-colored (maybe even white) sausage shorter than the usual hot dog with a much larger diameter and it had a sharp curve. The most distinctive part of it was the natural casing, which you had to bite hard to get through and there were tight knots in the casing at either end that were so tough that you had to chew pretty hard. Most of the people didn’t eat the knot, it seemed like.
Anyone have any idea what kind of sausage that might be and where I could get some?
What was the flavor? Italain? Mexican? Sweet? Spicy? Mild? Strong? Was there fennel in it? How about cheese and peppers?
Not that it would really answer any questions, but how was it cooked/served? Grilled and stuck in a pan of beer until you put in on a bun? Boiled, then grilled and cut up to put in red sauce? Was it served with sauerkraut or sauteed onions and peppers?
Anything else you can tell us other then light colored and in a natural casing?
It was so long ago that I’m very shaky on the particulars. There might have been some spice in it, but it didn’t have any large bits of non-meat material in it, like cheese or peppers. I have a memory that I thought it was German in style. Probably mild in flavor, but I can’t be too precise.
It was grilled on a charcoal grill and served whole with a hot dog roll. The hard casing makes me think that the sausage would be commonly sliced up and served, but I liked it fine whole. I can’t remember exactly what accompanied it, but sauerkraut, potato salad, and mustard would fit the bill I think.
Probably just some kind of German Sausage. Most sausages turn really white when you boil them. Other than the taste, that’s one of the reasons for grilling them afterwords…they look kinda gross.
If it had a natural casing, it was probably from a small store or meat market and even if you figured out the exact name of it, getting if from your mega mart won’t be the same. Johnsonville Chorizo is crap compared to Chorizo made at a store that has an actual ‘let’s walk the cows into the back room*’ meat counter.
Also, the knotty ends mean it was probably hand made. Another reason to assume it was from a meat market or small mom and pop store that’s buy from ‘a guy’ that makes it for them.
*okay, not really live cows, but a ‘real’ meat counter.
Hm … So maybe I couldn’t get exactly that sausage. But I’m really interested in finding that tight snap with the knots again. I wonder if I could find something similar where I live?
The chewiness reminds me of that, but that’s usually boiled and not grilled. But most natural casings aren’t particularly chewy (most of the sausage I buy is natural casing. It’s only hot dogs I have difficulty finding with natural casings.) Except for weisswurst. For some reason, that one seems to always be chewy (and is meant to be eaten removed from the casing, either peeled after boiling or just sucked out. And followed by a weizen beer, of course.)
I’ve never had any sausage with those knots, but the snap is just from the natural casing. I know a lot of people really don’t like that. Never bothered me. I really don’t care either way.
Not if they gave you a bun and mustard. Also IME, if you toss the casing, it’s often times pre-cooking and then added to something else. For example, that’s very common with Chorizo.
Oh, plus Johnsonville sell both collagen casing and natural casing products. I believe the raw Johnsonville Original brats are natural casing, but it’s been years since I’ve had one. I could swear their Italian was as well. The cooked stuff, no.
I’m leaning toward likely bratwurst, and also likely it was a butcher’s recipe and not from a grocery store. I’d visit a local butcher and see not just what bratwurst they have to offer, but what other sausages. They often have old family recipes and you may find some really good stuff.
I agree that bratwurst makes the most sense, but the description (tight chewy casing, knots, shorter than a hot dog, tight curve) sounds more like a typical weisswurst to me, except for the part about it being grilled. But who knows what people do with weisswurst in Ohio or Pennsylvania. (And there are some references to it being grilled on the web.) If it was speckled with green on the inside, then that points to weisswurst. If it wasn’t, then it probably wasn’t.
Anyhow, if it is bratwurst, it shouldn’t be too hard to find at the supermarket, I’d think. Then again, I live in a sausage-heavy town (Chicago), where pretty much every supermarket has at least Italian (both hot and mild), Polish, and several varieties of bratwurst, in addition to all the hot dogs.
Which reminds me, there is also the possibility of it being a fresh Polish sausage (as opposed to a smoked one.) They are definitely served in Ohio, and they are fairly light in color, though I’d consider them more of a medium gray when cooked (although they are referred to as “white sausage” in Polish.) However, as with bratwurst, those sausages are generally around hot-dog length and don’t have a particularly sharp curve to them. Then again, it depends on who’s making them. You certainly can make them short and stout.
I’ve had good bratwurst at a few places, and it never looked like this sausage—short, fat, and curved. The bratwurst I’ve had was always a regular, straight sausage shape.
Well, maybe the bun and mustard was for the other kind of dogs they were making. There was a more traditional-looking dog there too.
(And there are some references to it being grilled on the web.) If it was speckled with green on the inside, then that points to weisswurst. If it wasn’t, then it probably wasn’t.