The Ravens sketchy start to the season notwithstanding, I’m really glad football is back in town. One of the best parts of our football traditions is the Tailgate Party and all the tasty things we get to gobble down. And Chef JP well knows, high on the list of Tailgate standouts are sausages fired up on the grill.
And of course, the king of football sausages has got to be the bratwurst, which is basically a pork sausage, although a lot of folks will grind veal or beef along with the pork. A lot of people like to cook their brats in beer, which gets the job done. Now in addition to the ground meat you’ll have a number of spices blended in, things like marjoram, ginger, and nutmeg. But properly speaking the spices should be subtle and not dominate the flavor. And if you’re grilling up some brats be sure to have lots of mustard and a good supply of sauerkraut.
If you’re going to grill your bratwurst, what technique is best?
We like to start them off over the hot part of the grill to
get the skin nice and crisp, and then move them to the cool part to let them cook through slowly. And we think this approach will work for just about any kind of sausage. Just be sure to set up your grill with a hot zone and a cooler zone, and you do that by moving most of the charcoal to one side. Simple.
Let’s look at some other choices. For instance Italian sausage which is really popular.
The all-American version is a pork sausage that is strongly seasoned with fennel or anise .Sometimes you’ll get a “hot” Italian sausage that has a fair amount of red pepper flakes mixed in, and that’s really tasty.
Of course the classic accompaniment to Italian sausage is grilled-up onions and bell peppers, all served on a big old roll.
How about some of the other German styles? Knackwurst and Weisswurst for instance.
Knackwurst is a blend of pork and beef with garlic and coriander as seasonings. You’ll sometimes find it pre-cooked like a hot dog, but you still can heat it up on the grill. Weisswurst is mostly veal with a bit of pork added in, flavored with mace and parsley. As the name implies it is a pale almost white sausage with a smooth texture, and I think it’s the mildest flavor you’re going to find. I would caution against over-cooking which will split the skin and ruin the sausage. Definitely meant for the cool side of the grill.
With all of our lamb producers here in Maryland we’re apt to come across something called merguez. Which is one of Jerry’s favorites. It is made with lamb, and it actually comes from North Africa. The seasonings include harissa, cumin and cayenne pepper. In France, where merguez is really popular, they make a sandwich with lots of mayonnaise and hot salty French fries right on top.
And speaking of spicy sausages, the andouille comes to mind. It’s one of Louisiana’s favorites. It’s actually a smoked sausage, very coarse in texture, and heavily seasoned with garlic. If you can whip up some gumbo to tote along to your tailgate you’ll be in Cajun heaven.
Many of us remember going to a tapas bar and eating a Spanish sausage called chorizo. Spanish chorizo, which is made with a lot of paprika and garlic, is technically a dried sausage, so you wouldn’t pop it on the grill. But the Mexican version is fresh, meaning raw, and you would grill that. In either case, chorizo is a pretty strongly flavored sausage that really stands up well to a nice cold beer.
We’ve noticed that a lot of the meat producing farmers around here love to make sausages. That’s a good way to go shopping. You can go to your local Farmers Market and pick up a whole variety of sausages. And the thing is, they will be as fresh as they can be and of very high quality. Liberty Delight Farms is a great source for first rate sausages, so give them a try.
And if you get out there to visit them near Reisterstown, be sure to stop by their new Corner Market farm store. It features food not only from Liberty Delight, but from other local farmers
as well.
