The bulk of this post is a repost of a classic from this blog, but done in honor and remembrance of my late father-in-law, Del Schneider.
There are too many great stories to share in this brief post, and too many to forget, but let this serve as a quick memorial to the man who not only gave me his daughter's hand in marriage, but also taught me how to cook bratwurst properly.
Dad you will be missed, remembered, and celebrated.
As promised, I'm going to expose the secrets to perfect brats. First,
though, let me take you, if I may, on a journey - a journey back to how I
first learned the basics of this highly-favoured endeavour.
Perhaps you already know that my wife and her family hail originally
from Wisconsin. Moving from Sheboygan, Wisconsin - sausage capital of
the US - to the Detroit area meant some significant lifestyle changes,
not least of which was the basic lack of what they had come to know and
love as bratwurst. What to do?
Well, my ever-resourceful then-future father-in-law found a way to have
real Sheboygan brats flown into Detroit, and massive quantities were
received each year to the delight of all and sundry.
When the time came for me to ask him for his daughter's hand, I had
already been introduced to the glories of properly-prepared bratwurst.
He and I sat down in the living room, where I told him that I had an
important question for him. "I was wondering," I asked, "where you get
the brats?" The cool thing is, he told me the whole story about getting
them flown in via a perhaps-then-illegal interstate meat transaction.
With that out of the way, I told him that I wanted to marry his
daughter, and he averred that he thought that was a good idea.
Sadly, the Sheboygan Sausage Company of Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin is no
more, but the recipe was (supposedly) purchased by the Johnsonville
company, and that is now the brat of choice.
(An interesting side note here: we did find what we considered to be vastly superior brats on a trip through Sheboygan at the Miesfeld's Triangle Market -
several times State Champions, in fact - but the cost of shipping so
far outweighed the cost of the sausage that it will remain a "when we
pass through we're buying a bunch" kind of thing. But I digress.)
It
was at a family reunion here in town that I learned at the elbow of my
father-in-law just how it was done. (Note the past tense there, it
actually gets better!) The brats must be boiled a bit in a mix of beer
and water before going on the
grill
. This lets them release some of their fat before hitting the fire, the which can be an exciting event.
A squirt bottle of water was the tool of the day for keeping down the
flare-ups that did arise, although the beer held in the other hand would
do quite nicely as well. Care should be taken to avoid stirring up too
many ashes - they can stick to the brats and make for a
grittier-than-desirable experience (and yes, that does mean that
charcoal
is the preferred heat source).
There you have the basics of brat grilling. Condiments and bunnage are
best left to the individual's taste, but mustard, onions, Swiss cheese,
and sauerkraut make up my starting point.
Now to reveal the secret to my enhanced bratwurst cooking process.
Into the pot of beer and water (I generally use Molson Canadian) I add
an onion cut into wedges, and a healthy dose of nutmeg. These additions
add just the right notes to the already-delicious flavour of the brats,
and the kitchen smells glorious all the while too.
Now please, go and enjoy your bratwurst, but enjoy them responsibly.
