In This Installment:
Bavarian Sweet & Spicy Mustard from New York
The Schaller & Weber company has been a stallwart in the Jewish Delicatessen world for nearly a century. The founder—Ferdinand Schaller—came from Stuttgart, Germany in 1937 and opened up his shop on New York’s Upper East Side. Heck, when I first started working at Zingerman’s Deli in 1994, we sold their Halvah bars (among other items) to great acclaim, so it should come as no surprise that I was taken with this mustard: a classic sweet/spicy combination that goes great with all meats of all kinds (but especially hot dogs, sausages, corned beef to my mind)!
I’ve come across a lot of really good mustards lately, and I just can’t help but share them with curious food folks like yourself. Is mustard that curious of a food? Well, not the yellow grocery store kind most of us knew growing up, at least. Good, delicious, full-flavored mustard was a revelation to me the first time I tried it lo’ these many years ago, and not just on sandwiches. My first mustard vinaigrette sold me on the stuff and I haven’t looked back since. Though this is the season of tailgating and outdoor fun with food and you’ll get a lot more folks ooing and ahhing over how great this tastes on a brat, I encourage you to whip up a vinaigrette, toss it with a mixed green salad, and see what fans you get from a dish like that.
Brad’s Simple Mustard Vinaigrette Recipe
Ingredients:
olive oil
vinegar
Bavarian Sweet & Spicy Mustard
In a bowl or 1 cup measuring cup combine 3 parts olive oil with 1 part vinegar and 1 tablespoon Sweet & Spicy mustard. Whip up with a fork, whisk, or hand-held frother or mixer. Once it looks mixed together, toss with salad or serve over roasted vegetables or use as a marinade for grilled meats.
Campo Seco Salami from New York
I’ve been crazy for salamis lately. Or rather, I’ve been tasting and enjoying a lot of new American salamis lately and I just can’t wait to fit them all into these clubs. Along with American artisan cheese, American artisan charcuterie has been on a meteoric rise of late. Yes, there are new folks all the time, but I’m talking about makers I’ve known for years but haven’t had the chance to feature. This salami—from my long time friend in food, Charles Wekselbaum—is a great example. I’ve known Charles for years, but this is the first time I’ve featured his salamis in a club. He’d share samples through the years and I’d let him know what I thought or what I didn’t like and we’ve always had a very open dialogue about his stuff, which we’ve both appreciated, but it never turned into sales…until it finally did.
Charles was raised in a Cuban, Jewish, American household with a ton of food and even more traditions woven throughout his upbringing and life. He started making salami in 2010 in Brooklyn (they’re in Astoria now). I probably started talking with him shortly thereafter. I liked him immediately and I think it’s that mutual affection that’s kept us connected through the years. So I simply couldn’t wait another installment before I shared his Campo Seco salami with you. It won a Good Food Award, which is a very nice honor, and in my humble opinion it’s the best example of how good his salami has become. In a sense, Campo Seco is his “base model” and he can add other ingredients to this mix to make other salamis, but I wanted to feature this in its purest, least adulterated form: just salt and pork. It’s wonderful as a snack, featured on a cheese tray, on a hike, a car ride, whatever and wherever you’re going this salami is along for the ride and its delicious.
I couldn’t be prouder to call Charles my friend in food. I hope you like him, too.