9 replies to this topic

[Rail Paul]

Bill Ervolino of the Bergen Record has an article about ethnic butcher shops in northeastern NJ. Lots of favorites that have been discussed here over the years. This is an excellent list of places to check out. It's good to see such a comprehensive list in one place.

Nice to see the good folks at Janek's in Passaic mentioned. They're a wonderful source for sausages, and they're immediately adjacent to the Polonia Bakery on Monroe Street.

Swiss Pork Store in Fair Lawn - source of the wonderful burgers at Dutch Tavern, and (I believe) some of the meat at Picnic the restaurant

Kocher's in Ridgefield - which is an incredible source for unusual German sausages, as well as a comprehensive meat offering. Frikadellen, for example:

frikadellen — a baseball-sized delight made with beef, pork, veal, chopped onions, breadcrumbs and fresh herbs.

Piast gets a good note, too:

If you’ve never had REAL kielbasa, check out Piast Meats and Provisions in Garfield, which blows those grocery store kielbasas right out of the water. Piast also has a terrific selection of other smoked meats and fish, and cheeses including farmers cheese, mothers cheese (available salted or unsalted, it resembles feta), and podlaski cheese, which goes well with fruit or dark bread. Oh, and if you’ve never had freshly made pierogi, well, look no further.

Pork belly sourcing is mentioned, too.

If you’re a stranger to pork belly, then perhaps its time to do something about it. A staple in Korean and Chinese cuisines, it’s pricey and not available in most of the larger chain supermarkets in our area. But, it’s easily found in the meat departments of Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater and the H Marts in Englewood, Ridgefield, Fort Lee and Little Ferry.

There are plenty of terrific recipes available online, but pork belly shines brightest when prepared as simply as possible. Try it braised with garlic, some chopped vegetables (carrots, celery, onions) and a bit of fresh thyme.

Good article

[OTB]

For photos of Kochers:

http://offthebroiler...-kochers-meats/



Frickadels (above, make amazing meatball sandwiches with German mustard)

and Swiss Pork Store

http://offthebroiler...iss-pork-store/

[menton1]

Wow, conspicuous by its absence is the terrific Karl Ehmer of Hillsdale, great, great Kielbasa and some fabulous and unique (for the USA) wursts!

[Rail Paul]

Wow, conspicuous by its absence is the terrific Karl Ehmer of Hillsdale, great, great Kielbasa and some fabulous and unique (for the USA) wursts!

Good observation. Definitely should be on the list.

And, I heard the butcher on Rock Road in Glen Rock center may have closed.

[hotdoglover]

The German style franks at Karl Ehmer's in Hillsdale are actually from Kocher's. And I believe some of the other meats they sell are as well. I know I mentioned it somewhere on this site, but Kocher's franks are the best (at least in my opinion) beef/pork franks available. Many stores and butcher shops (John's Meat Market in Scotch Plains) sell Kocher's franks and lead you to believe it's their own. Advertised as homemade, the source of these franks are kept secret by Kocher's because the places that carry them want you to buy from them and to believe it's the only place you can get them.

I spoke with Mr. Mayer who told me that 40 or so places carry their franks. He would only tell me that John's is the closest to me. I get them there instead of having to drive to Hillsdale or Ridgefield Park. John's Meat Market has been named the best butcher by New Jersey Monthly. They are expensive though. The hot dogs are $8.99 per pound as opposed to $6.80 at Kocher's. Ehmer's also sells them for less than John's. I spoke with someone at Ehmer's office in College Point, N.Y. who told me they are not happy that the Hillsdale store sells Kocher's franks rather than Ehmer's. This man sent me some of Ehmer's German franks to sample. They were good, but Kocher's are better.

Recently I've done tastings of butcher shop franks. All are top quality using whole cuts of very good beef and pork rather than just trimmings. They must be consumed within 2 days of purchase as they do not contain preservatives or fillers. I don't even think they contain nitrates. I've always been partial to Thumann's. In my tastings I prefer Kocher's and the wonderful franks from the Union Pork Store, which has a great reputation and has the best bratwurst I've ever had. And that includes Usinger's out of Milwaukee.

Pulaski Meats on Wood Ave. in Linden is a Polish butcher shop/store that also has excellent meats and 14 or so different kinds of kielbasy. You can find their franks in some supermarkets. I go to these places to buy hot dogs. They specialize in the German style beef/pork rather than the more well seasoned kosher style beef franks. If you are looking for the freshest highest quality franks anywhere (New Jersey is the hot dog capital of the world), let me suggest Kocher's, the Union Pork Store, or Pulaski.

Check out Jason's excellent pictures of Kocher's meats on Off the broiler.

[hotdoglover]

I went to Barth's Market in New Providence for the first time Tuesday on the way to Goodman's deli. Barth's is another old time pork store/butcher shop that we are fortunate to have in our area as they are a dying breed. You are virtually guaranteed that you will get quality franks at any of these stores as they use quality ingredients and old world recipes.

I bought a few of their franks which are 50% beef, 50% pork. Natural casing and I would guess about 5 to a pound. I had one along with a frank from the Union Pork Store. Union Pork Store's franks are 6/1. Barth's are bigger. I heated one of each in water and then put them in my cast iron skillet. Barth's are a little darker in color while Union Pork's are reddish/pink. They are identical in flavor. The recipes for each have to be similar if not the exact same.

My favorite franks in this style are Thumann's and those you get at a place like Barth's. Namely Barth's, Union Pork Store, and Kocher's. Differences in flavor are very slight, and as I said I can't taste any difference between the 2 I sampled yesterday. One of the guys at Barth's worked at Gaiser's in Union before it was sold to the current owners. These guys seem to know others in the business and they all produce similar excellent franks. Better ingredients and fresh as can be. Consume before they go bad as there are no preservatives

Go to whichever store is closest to you. Or try them all. You can't go wrong. And in my opinion these hot dogs are too good to disguise their great flavor with all the crap that many hot dog joints pile on. Especially those establishments owned by chefs who take a quality frank and ruin it with foie gras, raspberry wasabi sauce, guacamole, sour cream, cream cheese, and on and on. It's overkill. Might as well use a cheap Bar S or Ballpark frank because a quality one like Barth's would be wasted. When you see the term "haute dog" this is pretty much what you can expect.

The website for Barth's is http://www.barthsmar.../home_2011.html

I hope to get to Stefan's in Clifton this week. Another European market that I haven't been to but has been highly recommended on several other sites as well as this one.

[Rail Paul]

I went to Barth's Market in New Providence for the first time Tuesday on the way to Goodman's deli. (snip)

I hope to get to Stefan's in Clifton this week. Another European market that I haven't been to but has been highly recommended on several other sites as well as this one.

Stefan's often has "something we decided to make" in the sausage department, as well as many of their regular products. I'd ask about what they're trying out. If you're in the area, the Hungarian sausage store is about two blocks south on Parker, on the right hand side.

If you continue south on Parker about a mile or so, and hang a right on Monroe, you'll be at Janek's Meat market, on the corner of Hope Street. I've mentioned it from time to time. There's a ramp onto NJ 21 south at the corner of Monroe / Parker / NJ 21. Or, if you choose, you can take Monroe Street east, over the river, and turn left on Riverside. That takes you up to Pilast's new store and butcher area. About a half mile on the right in a strip mall. It's all very compact.

[Sneakeater]

Ethnic butcher:

[Rail Paul]

Ethnic butcher:

A retired dentist, by profession, I believe.

Wealth TV, a curious cable channel, had an episode last night about the Byzantine heritage in the Balkans. The late 1980s made show discussed the heritage (churches, ruined monastic houses, etc) in an area that has been Byzantine, Ottoman, Slavic, controlled over the years. It noted that the ethnic tensions remain a matter of concern...

[Sneakeater]

Remember this Star Trek episode?