photo/Kiki Garfield
Oktoberfest Edition
Welcome back, barbecue fans, to another Smokin’ Sausage Showdown, The Bollard’s almost annual competition among local butcher shops for greasy glory! We were so busy last barbecue season that we had to skip this event, and it wasn’t until late this September that we got it together for this special Oktoberfest Edition, or what we like to call the First Annual Fall Classic (sic) Smokin’ Sausage Showdown!
After seven or eight Showdowns, it was abundantly clear the butchers at Fresh Approach on Portland’s West End and Pat’s Meat Market in Deering Center were gonna clean up the awards for Italian sausage and chicken links, respectively, every time. So they, along with The Sausage Kitchen in Lisbon Falls (Best Wurst in Maine), are effectively Hall of Famers whose entries into these Showdowns are more about what’s new than what’s best.
The Sausage Kitchen makes a Fall Harvest variety that would’ve been perfect for our Oktoberfest competition were they in links; but alas, patties only when we stopped by for contestants. Our editor chose the Smoked Spinach and Cheese Bratwurst, and I’ve been told he didn’t really think the spinach had been smoked, and thus knew these links were basically already cooked, but another hour bathed in hot smoke warmed them up nicely, and this Greek-style brat with feta proved a satisfying appetizer during Round 1. A, of course.
Kennebec Meat Co. in Bath, which medaled in Showdown X with their Louisiana Hot Link, had an Oktoberfest variety in the case pleasingly enhanced with lemon and brought together with beer — Narragansett, in this batch. Even after two and a half hours maple-smoked on the gridiron at an average temp of 250 Fahrenheit, their link was juicy. Solid B+.
Sirloin’s (formerly Countryside) Butcher Shop in Scarborough has really good meat at really good prices, and their maple-and-blueberry breakfast sausage did not disappoint. It was packed with so many sweet berries that the syrup was just gilding the lily, and paired with pancakes, you wouldn’t need an extra drop of the sticky stuff: A.
Fresh Approach has a new link this fall, a version of their Hot Italian with cheddar, and man, is it delicious! They start every Showdown steps ahead thanks to their coarser grind and perfect pack, and their Hot Italians used to give local legend Dickie Colucci (ret.) a run for his money, so adding cheddar is like LeBron dunking on Bronny: easy A.
This isn’t a new thing, but we learned something new about Pat’s this year: if you give them a sausage recipe and order at least five pounds, they’ll make it for you! And, lucky us, they often make and sell extra links of these Sausages of the People, like the one with garlic, herbs and provolone we picked up for this Showdown. Exceptional! Reminded me of gramma’s veal meatloaf, and for all I know, a gramma did write this recipe. A for Pat’s and somebody’s gramma.
OK, we know you’re all waiting for the big headline from this year’s Showdown, so here it is: Barber Brothers Meat + Provisions in South Portland, the new market where Smaha’s (Legion Square Market) used to be, is killin’ it in the meat department! Their house-made sausages are creative and expertly made. Plus we conveniently picked up a four-pack of Oxbow’s Oxtoberfest there.
(Definitive Brewing’s also excellent Oktoberfest paired well with Round 2’s competitors; cannabis from Evergreen in Portland and Coastal Remedies in Scarborough kept our appetites primed; and the ceremonial tongs were literally Forged by Thor in New Gloucester — all hail Thor!)
The editor — who clearly can’t be trusted to make decisions like this — picked up a variety four-pack from Barber Brothers that included a damn good chorizo (not too hot or too salty), and a “gorgeous” broccoli rabe with cheese that had a nice hit of heat. Their dumpling sausage, intended to taste like the inside of a Chinese pork dumpling, achieved exactly that, which is to say, in was scrumptious. A’s all around.
The Thai basil sausage from A Small Good, the family-run salumeria in Rockport that stocks its links at the Portland Food Co-op and other retailers, aims for a similar effect, calling that variety “essentially a stir fry that looks like a sausage” on the label. Indeed: A-.
But back to this year’s champs, the market owned by grandkids of Maine food deity Gus Barber (Barber Foods), whose fourth sausage, a Toulouse, totally schooled us. The spices are subtle; it’s the wine (must be a white) that vaulted this link to an A+. Elegant, slightly floral, with the finer, grainy grind this shop prefers, and perfectly stuffed. Yes, I just praised a sausage for being elegant and slightly floral. Fight me — for the last link in the case!
See ya next season in these pages for the 2025 Porkolympics…
