St. Louis Eats and Drinks With Joe and Ann Pollack

Swiss Meats

  We’ve talked before about how much we like the products from Swiss Meat and Sausage Co. Located on Highway 19 in Swiss, MO, about 12 miles south of Hermann, the family operation has begun attracting well-deserved attention, thanks to things like the Deen Brothers featuring them on television and in their book.

Things are going so well, in fact, that they’ve greatly enlarged the retail facility. The formal opening will be in the fall, but things are already rocking. In addition to extra room to display hams, sausages, cured and smoked meats of many types, they’ve added more Missouri-made products to the lineup. There’s a display of elderly-to-antique butcher shop items, many used by the Sloan family in years past and, to top it off, there’s now more space for a wider variety of sandwiches and sides and a counter, a few booths and some outdoor seating at which to enjoy them. All the meat, of course, is their own. (The perfect routine at Swiss, as far as we are concerned, is to taste a couple of samples of bratwurst, decide on one to eat right there and then pick up a package or two to take home. You know, All Sausage, All the Time.)

We tried pulled pork and beef brisket barbecue, both outstanding in their molasses-touched sauce, and a smoked bratwurst that we topped with a little sauerkraut and mustard. The brat combo was particularly tasty, even to the non-kraut-fancying Ann, whose look of astonishment at her first bite was probably pretty funny. The sides are made by a sister of proprietor Mike Sloan, shown in the first photo conferring with Joe, and we can vouch for the German potato salad as being properly traditional and absolutely delicious.

But the focus still remains, as it should, on the fine wursts and other sausages, including various  bacons, salamis, summer sausage, braunschweiger and other meats sold at retail. Sloan is a big believer in free samples. He says he slices and displays about 15 pounds a day, everything from braunschweiger and Lebanon bologna to some of the 48 styles of bratwurst and link sausage he offers. There’s always an employee standing at a grill with a sharp knife and at least five different sausages hot and ready to be tasted. In addition, in the case for cured meats are bowls of meat samples and lots of toothpicks.

"Once people try it, they really like it," says Sloan, and we agree. It’s hard for us to pick a favorite, but we admit that the apple sausage finds its way into our cooler every visit. And so does the bacon, usually the thick-sliced.

If you’re planning on a visit, Swiss closes on Sundays, except during the Christmas season, and at 3 p.m. on Saturdays.

Swiss Meat & Sausage Co.

2506 S. Hwy 19, Hermann, MO

573-486-2086/800-793-SWIS (7947)

www.swissmeats.com

Open Mon.-Sat.

Credit cards: All major

St. Louis Farmers Markets 2008

After the months of wretched weather the area has endured, what a pleasure it is to think about the coming of farmers’ markets. Here’s the 2008 warm weather schedule for St. Louis and St. Louis County.

WEDNESDAY

Maplewood Farmers Market, 7260 Southwest Ave., in the parking lot of Schlafly Bottleworks, Maplewood. 4-7 p.m., May 7-October 29.

SATURDAY

Clayton Farmers Market, 8282 Forsyth Blvd., west of Straub’s, Clayton.www.claytonfarmersmarket.com 8:30 a.m.-1230 p.m. May 24-October 25.

Ferguson Farmers Market, 20 S. Florissant Rd., Ferguson. www.fergusonfarmersmarket.com  8 a.m.-noon May-November.

North City Farmers Market, 14^th St. & St. Louis Ave. (Across from Crown Candy Kitchen!). 9 a.m.-1 p.m., June 7-Oct. 25.

Tower Grove Farmers Market, Tower Grove Park west of the wading pool. www.tgmarket.org 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., May 10-Oct 25.

Additionally,Soulard Farmers Market has some local product along with non-local, and particularly on Saturday, is worth a visit, if only for people-watching, although we never leave empty-handed. Kirkwood Farmers Market also has a mix of local and non-local, and now sports Babalu’s Snack Shack, the newest venture from the imaginative and skillful Dana Holland.

Parker's Table

Jonathan Parker painted his shop’s facade a deep Tuscan yellow the other day, causing many stares from the ladies in Lexus SUVs. Parker, proprietor of Parker’s Table in Clayton, is a guy always in search of something different.

He does pretty well at finding it, too. For one thing, he’s selling Italian artisanal pastas in bulk. This is a particularly good idea for the single cook who may only want a quarter of a pound, but it’s high-quality stuff for anyone. We muse over the calimaretto nero, fat short pasta tubes flavored with enough squid ink to make them a dark purplish-gray, which makes us want to sauce them with nuggets of salmon whose cooking juices have been tickled with olive oil, garlic, parsley and lemon.

Also investigate the balsamic vinegar glaze from Modena, the home of the only real balsamico. Parker reports using it on a pork loin, which sounds tasty. But where we’d really like to see it used is on is roasted chunks of autumn vegetables, like squash, turnips or sweet potatoes.

Parker’s Table

8137 Maryland Ave, Clayton

314-863-4090

Chicken Liver Nirvana

One Christmas Eve a few years back in Singapore, we had lunch at Banana Leaf Curry House, located in the neighborhood called Little India. It was an incredible meal, in part due to our first taste of chicken liver curry. Now, we know not everyone is a chicken liver fancier, and that’s fine by us. But for those few who both love chicken livers and Indian food, we have a find to share with you.

Out of a small, inexpensive box comes what may be the Indian version of Hamburger Helper. Shan is a company that makes many similar items, spice mixes to speed up preparation of things like kebabs and biryanis, curries and tandoori. The Liver Curry Mix caught our eye, and it’s now a permanent fixture in our kitchen cabinet.

Although the recipe on the back calls for a full cup of oil, ghee or butter, Ann cuts it waaay back to about 3 tablespoons. The results are pungent from the fenugreek in the spice mixture, and quite, quite spicy on the heat meter. (The hesitant may want to use half a packet, perhaps less.) There’s even a recipe on the back to use the seasoning with some already-cooked lentils.

We found it at Global Foods, always a treasure trove of interesting stuff, for about $1. This may not be the version from the Banana Leaf Curry House, but it’s awfully good.

Shan Liver Curry Mix

Global Foods Market

421 N. Kirkwood Rd., Kirkwood,

314-835-1112

Sausage and Soda

St. Louis Mills, the giant sort-of discount mall off Highway 370 in northwest St. Louis County, is not my usual hangout. But on a recent excursion, two unexpected food finds popped up.

The awesome sausage produced by Swiss Meats, in that wide spot in the road called Swiss, south of Hermann, is available at Missouri Mercantile in St. Louis Mills. Only three varieties of the sausage rather than the 'leventy-seven sold in Swiss, but nevertheless, for those who don't have the time for a leisurely ride in the country (and now that redbud and dogwood season is upon us, that's a shame), here's a way to satisfy the craving. 

Missouri Mercantile, 5555 St. Lousi Mills Blvd, Hazelwood, 314-227-5005, www.missourimercantile.com

For more information on Swiss Meats, officially they're at 2506 S. Hwy 19, Hermann, 573-486-2086 or 800-793-7947, www.swissmeats.com

The other amusing find, at the other end, near where the Blues practice, is called Soda Jerks. Two guys have opened a spot that sells esoteric varieties of soda, nearly all in glass bottles, along with energy drinks. In addition, they have a stand-up soda fountain that offers floats, Italian sodas and (oh, bliss) egg creams. They've acquired a real antique soda fountain that they're getting ready to install. Worth a look and a sip.

Soda Jerks, 5555 St. Lousi Mills Blvd., Hazelwood, 314-227-5124.

-Ann