I have now tried Landjager. Verdict: Yum

[xiphias]

Pursuant to my last post about things that are like Slim Jims except made out of food: Karl's Sausage Kitchen just off of Rte 1 in Peabody makes landjager. So I bought a pair (they're sold in pairs -- it's a single casing made into two links, which are pressed into rectangular-ish shapes for some reason instead of being round).

If you're going to get them, remember how calorically dense they are -- each one of those is basically a meal. So, for $3.50, you're effectively getting two meals. But they have such a satisfying texture, and they have enough flavor, that each one is satisfying enough to feel like you've gotten enough "eating-experience" to count as a meal. They've got enough protein and fat to let your body know that you've eaten enough, and they've got enough flavor and texture to let your mouth know.

Now, for my tastes, they could be spicier. I might suggest someday that they experiment with adding some capsaicin-type peppers in -- they make chorizo, and what they call "cajun fiery andouille", so I bet they could. However, even as is, it's got a satisfying black pepper heat to it.

It is also intensely treif, being made out of pork and lard and stuff like that. Just in case that makes a difference to you.

However, if you are not vegetarian, don't keep kosher, and sometimes get to the Peabody part of Rte 1, I suggest you try it. Maybe it won't be your sort of thing, but it's worth $3.50 to find out.

Comments

[goljerp]

Just out of academic curiosity, do you think that it would be possible to make a non-treif version? Considering the number of times I go hunting and need a burst of energy, or indeed eat meat at all, this really is just curiosity.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Well, obviously, Dave Riba would be able to give a better answer to this than I could -- my father-in-law has run both a kosher slaughter and meat packing operation, and a treif sausage factory, so I suspect he could give a REAL answer. Most of what I know is from conversations with him, and occasional reading of other books and stuff.

But, from my barely-educated layman's perspective, I don't see why you couldn't. Landjager is a mix of pork and beef and lard; I don't see why you couldn't do all beef and suet or tallow. I presume that you'd have to make some sorts of adjustments if lard and suet don't work exactly the same way, but I'd guess that they'd work close enough that you could adapt it if you knew what you were doing.

I honestly don't know how similar pork fat and beef fat are. Flipping quickly through Wikipedia suggests that tallow and lard are pretty similar, so I suspect that this could work. I wouldn't know how to do it, though.

[crewgrrl.livejournal.com]

Minor nitpicking kashrut note: suet is not a generic term for beef fat. It is a specific type of fat found around the kidneys and is one of the forbidden fats.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

There would be another reason my father-in-law would be better at answering this than I would. I didn't know suet was forbidden, but I bet Dave does.