Hudson Valley Sojourner’s Fetish
Yes, I admit that I am a sausage, wurst, and hot dog freak. I say this without remorse and with taste glands salivating.
I grew up in a cultural melting pot dominated by a mix of European immigrants. Just as mixed and varied were the pungent aromas that emanated from the stacks of homemade sausage, and the salami and wurst that hung drying from the walls and rafters of every local butcher shop and deli.
Real delis! Not places where you went for a bologna or a chicken salad sandwich on white bread. Just asking for these would get you thrown out of the store to the accompaniment of generically understand German, Italian, Polish, or Yiddish utterances. Actually they were not utterances. They were quite audible and extremely targeted. These were mom and pop operations where product and pride meant the same thing.
Needless to say I developed quite a liking for Italian sausage, German wurst, Polish kielbasi, and a good frankfurter, with casing please. As much as my expanded waistline complains of this fetish, I have not been able to break myself of this cultural addiction. Calling it “cultural” helps to justify it you see. I just practice moderation these days. Partly because I no longer have the metabolism of a 17 year old and partly because these wondrous delicacies are becoming ever more difficult to find in their native form.
Sure, I can get my hands and mouth on all types of pseudo-stuff. Taste-alike products from the supermarket rack that I call white bread wurst, hardly hot dogs, and so so sausage. But the real goods, the crafted stuff, the stuff that smells and tastes like your memories, those things are getting harder and harder to find.
The only plus in this scarcity is that I can now use it as an excuse to go traipsing through the Hudson Valley on yet another quest, and there is nothing the Sojourner likes better than a good quest for tasty delights. These taste delights still exist. They need only be sniffed out and enjoyed.
If your palate and mine are kindred spirits then you may want to undertake a quest of your own. You can start by checking out some of the places on this list:
http://dir.hudsonvalleysojourner.com/Meat_,038_Poultry/