Driers brats fill a fun and are one of the best.

Text and Photos
By Loren Shaum
Guest Columnist

Having come from an Old-order Mennonite background, I was exposed to Swiss/German food early-on. Then we moved to Milwaukee, and the large German population there celebrates most anything with bratwurst washed-down with beer.

Brats are especially popular at sport venues including Lambeau Field. When in the area, we always stop at 1919 Kitchen and Tap inside Green Bay’s hallowed grounds to munch on their famous beer brats while quaffing a cold one.

What’s Wurst?

We’ve been fortunate to have traveled through Europe. Whether you’re in Germany, Austria, Eastern Switzerland or the Alsace region of eastern France, wurst of all types are popular.

Wurst (woorst) translates to sausage, and there are no less than 1,200 types — many named from the region where they originated. Over the years, we’ve sampled many of these varieties.

Poole’s all pork brat is one of the better brats.

Locally, the largest collection of authentic German wurst can be found at Himmel Haus south of Elkhart. On occasion knackwurst, leberkase (A baloney-like loaf of ground veal and pork.), bratwurst, Thuringer sausage, blood sausage, liverwurst, mettwurst, beirwurst, Thuringer rotwurst, Jagdwurst, frankfurter wurstchen, weisswurst, and my favorite, Nuremburg brats might be available.

We also frequent Drier’s Meat Market in Three Oaks, Mich. Their meats are all house-made — many in their 100 plus-year-old smokehouse. Their Polish sausage, hot dogs, ham, baloney, liverwurst and German brats are all stellar. Their veal/pork brats are huge, so you will need at least a sub-bun to hold the behemoth!

Drier’s Polish sausage is a common ingredient in what we call Wawasee Bouillabaisse. This family classic combines the sausages with potatoes, green beans, mushrooms, onions and sometimes carrots — all in one big pot of home-made beef stock.

If you don’t want to cook, you can sample authentic Germanic sausages at Moser’s Austrian Restaurant in New Carlisle. Their hot wurst plate is sausage lover’s dream come true. The small plate comes with a Vienna bratwurst, Debrezinger sausage, Thueringer sausage and weisswurst. This collection of goodness is served with two Bavarian-style mustards, rye bread, a pimento cheese spread and a large pretzel. It’s the best sampling this side of Wisconsin.

The Quest for the Best

To seek the best brat (meaning ground meat) wurst, we looked for only home-made brats. Locations we found worthy:

• Poole’s Meat Market north of Wabash
• Bullseye Marketplace in Three Rivers, Mich.
• Mill’s Grocery in Union, Mich
• Martin’s Custom Butchery/Bales in Wakarusa and Syracuse
• Yoder’s Meat and Cheese in Shipshewana
• Martin’s Super Markets (their Martin brand of sausages are quite good, especially their Dingus-style sausages)
• Jamison’s Meats in Fort Wayne
• Albright’s One Stop in Corunna
• Old Hoosier Meats in Middlebury
• Mister Bratz in Orland

Most brats were grilled after a soak in a beer/ketchup concoction, but for some, we’ll steam in beer with onions and peppers. Poole’s brats were particularly good steamed while other all-pork versions were OK.

Yoder’s Meat and Cheese offers a veal/pork version, labeled “German bratwurst.” It was better than all the pork-only versions.

Adding veal to the pork and grinding that with fat and spices seems to make a difference. Most authentic Germanic-style bratwurst include some veal. So, that’s what we pursued!

The Best

Retaining moisture during the grilling process is key, so the amount of fat content is critical. We found that most of the pork-only brats lose moisture during grilling and tend to be less juicy. So, overcook them.

Unlike those conventional brats, which look simply like ground red meat in a casing, the authentic German bratwurst has a grayish-white color. Some of the versions have more seasoning than others, and a couple can be a bit salty.
For a full-size brat (one that easily fills a sub bun), Drier’s and the imported brats from Himmel Haus are about equal. So, if you want “Made in America,” I would go with Drier’s.

Regardless of all that, the authentic Nuernberger bratwurst from Himmel Haus are simply the best! These miniature brats are about the size of a wiener, and grill nicely. They don’t split open quickly — keeping the moisture inside. And, you can eat more than one! Serve them with some Drier’s horseradish mustard!

In Nuremberg, many beer halls serve the authentic bratwurst plate that includes four to six brats, German mustard, sauerkraut or braised red cabbage and spaetzle or potatoes.

Where to Buy the Best

Himmel Haus German Food and Imported Gifts: 3444 S. Main St., Elkhart. Phone: (574) 293-8361. Hours vary.

Drier’s Meat Market: 14 S. Elm St., Three Oaks, Mich. Phone: (269) 756-3101. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Sunday, which is 11 a.m. to 5 p. m.