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)
Open Mon.-Sat.
Credit cards: All major
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
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
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