 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
Watch our video: |
|
Win. Media Player (2.3 MB) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
Bank Street Sausage &
Deli
FOOD Love those links Ron Eade Wednesday, November 10, 2004 |
|
Sausage is one of those staples I frequently reach for when I'm bored with chicken and I have to get something on the table in a hurry. The nice thing about, say, a mild Italian (the sausage, I mean, not a sleepy man in Tuscany), is its versatility. You can grill the links and serve them as is, with the usual vegetables on the side. (Never, never, never pre-boil a sausage after someone went to the trouble of stuffing it with fine ingredients and seasonings.) Or, you can rip open the casing and brown the meat to use in a bolognese sauce, or to toss on a pizza. At home, I frequently grill or broil three or four links, then cut them into meatball-size chunks to serve with tomato sauce on spaghetti. Easy, delicious and the leftovers make a great lunch. But the wonder of it is how many different brands of sausage are out there. Even among those that claim to be Italian, there's an incredible variety of sausages -- with prices that vary from almost-free to quite expensive. Which ones are best, you wonder? I'm so very glad you asked. In this, the latest in a series of take-no-prisoners taste tests, we enlisted the expert help of Russell Weir, executive chef at the Sheraton Ottawa, and Richard Nigro, co-owner of Juniper Kitchen and Wine Bar. As usual, we left the cooking to the professionals so no one could accuse us later of incompetence at the grill. Joining them were myself and Gay Cook, Food columnist, who oversaw tasting at the Citizen Central test kitchen (a.k.a. Mrs. Cook's house). We made the rounds of various retailers, and in each case asked for Italian sausage -- figuring that is the most common. We also specified "mild," because we didn't want to blast our tastebuds with so much spicy food. It total, we assembled 19 specimens from area butchers and supermarkets. Each was carefully identified by number so that no judge knew which was which until after the taste test. Right off the bat, everyone could detect obvious differences in appearance before the grilling even began. Colour varied from an appealing, meaty dark reddish hue to a unappealing brownish-grey. Some had a strange, washed-out reddish-orange hue to them. In general, fat was well distributed through the samples. However, in some cases the fat and meat was too finely ground, while in other instances it was too chunky and, as a result, chewy. As Mr. Weir puts it, a sausage is really only as good as the ingredients. "You have to respect the fine art of charcuterie; you don't just make a sausage by dumping in a lot of meat byproducts in a factory somewhere," Mr. Weir says. "There's an art to it, starting with the selection of only the best ingredients. A coarsely ground sausage will better show the quality of ingredients because, properly stuffed and cooked, you'll have the different flavours of meat, fat and seasonings come together nicely." Texture is important, says Mr. Nigro. "If the meat is pureed then you change the whole experience from being a sausage to being a mousse or a pate. And, believe you me, pate is not sausage." Sausages have to be properly stuffed. If they're packed too tight they may burst open and spurt on the grill; too loose, and they may fall apart. Our sausages were cooked on a Weber gas barbecue on medium-high heat for about 20 minutes. Chefs were able to tell exactly when to pull them off the grill simply by poking them gently with tongs. We definitely did not stab or cut into the sausages to check for doneness. Not surprisingly, we found quality varied widely -- and paying a high price did not necessarily guarantee a better product. Our top pick was from Bank Street Sausage & Deli, a small little shop at 1920 Bank St., near Walkley Road. (The same sausages are also on the menu at House of Schnitzel at 1208 Wellington St.) Also recommended by our tasters are sausages from Orlik's Butchery & Fine Foods in Barrhaven, Luciano's Fine Prepared Foods on Preston Street, and Johnsonville Sausage -- a factory-made product imported from Wisconsin, available at big grocery stores like Loeb and Loblaws. We found many of the sausages very salty. In some, the expected seasonings of garlic, fennel seeds and, perhaps, anise seed, were out of balance or lop-sided. Others had an uncharacteristic, rubbery texture -- like English breakfast sausage, not Italian. "I was really surprised in the fluctuations in every aspect -- from seasonings to sizes, appearance, fat content and how coarse it was ground," says Mr. Weir. "Overall, the quality in my opinion was very poor, with a couple of exceptions. This surprised me because I expected better in Ottawa, given our cultural diversity." Mr. Nigro also found our little taste test to be an eye opener. "I was surprised to see some of the people who are known to be good butchers have produced a disappointing sausage," Mr. Nigro says. "In general, one would hope more care could be taken in the whole process in the selection of meats, the seasoning, and even how the seasoning is distributed through the product."
|
|
Top Pick Lovely reddish colour indicates a rich seasoning even before the sausage hit the grill. Good distribution of fat throughout, and uniform thickness. Judges felt it had a nice finish and no single ingredient or seasoning overwhelmed, as with some other sausages. Nice texture in the mouth, not rubbery. Visually appealing. "Someone took real care with the ingredients," said judge Russell Weir, executive chef at the Sheraton Ottawa. Not Thrilling Very dark, unappealing colour. Meat was too coarsely ground and the sausage was too tightly packed, causing the casing to rupture and juices to spurt out while grilling. Fennel seed was whole, not toasted, and tended to clump together in pockets. Very chewy texture. Market Fresh Off-putting brown-grey colour was not at all appealing. Flakes of black pepper visible through the casing. Good fat distribution, but fat seemed too finely ground. After grilling, the sausage was far too spicy to qualify for "mild" Italian as ordered -- in fact, the pepper was overwhelming. Aubrey's Meats Fat well distributed, but the casing was too loosely stuffed (the skin was actually broken). Sausage started coming apart on the grill, and tasted too much like filler. Poor, crumbly texture. Farm Boy This was the judges' least favourite. Very pale colour; ingredients machine-ground beyond recognition -- like a pate. Thickness not uniform. The casing broke open on the grill. Very salty taste with a rubbery texture more like an English banger than the Italian mild style. Also Tested, but Not Remarkable Prices are per kilogram Ran with fact box "Also tested, but not remarkable", which has been appended to the story. * All photos are credited to Wayne Cuddington, The Ottawa Citizen |
|
Richard Nigro of Juniper Kitchen and Wine Bar, and Russell Weir, executive chef
at the Sheraton Ottawa, grill up some links for tasters.
Food
editor Ron Eade takes a measured sniff.
Sausage tasters Richard Nigro, Ron Eade, Russell Weir and Food columnist Gay
Cook settle down to some serious evaluation of the links. In all, 19 sausages
were judged for taste, aroma and texture 
