Coffeehouse hot link

As in the boudin from Louisiana, the kielbasa from Poland, and the saucisse de Toulouse from, well, Toulouse, everybody knows sausage can be from a place, but can it be about a place? I never really thought about it until I ate some cheese.

The cheese I ate had a rind rubbed with coffee and lavender. At first glance the combination seemed curious, I figured it fit in with today's culinary trend of pairing disperate flavors to create new profiles, but I was wrong, the resulting palette was very familiar.

Coffeehouse.

The penultimate coffeehouse experience: It's cold outside, the storefront has fogged up windows, walk in and you are greeted by a rush of humidity and the aroma of coffee, cinnamon and something hippie. Good hippie. And as I tasted the cheese, I realized that 'something hippie' was lavender.

My standard for coffeehouses was set in the late 80's at the King Ave. Coffeehouse in Columbus. It had it all: a bottomless cup, light vegetarian fare, and a bead store off to one side. It's where I learned to drink coffee, It's where felt I could be anything I imagined.

A great memory, but a sausage? Sure why not.



Coffee. I started with brewed espresso (too weak), and I tasted a sprinkle of a fancy-pants instant (too nasty). I settled on a finely ground French roast. For that authentic DIY feel, you could roast your own,but for this project, I used store bought.



Lavender. I found some buds at The Spice House, then pulverized them to a powder.

Let's go to the boards:

1000g Meat. Pork, duck, and/or up to 20% pork fat.
18g Salt
5g French roast coffee beans, finely ground
3g Black pepper
2g lavender, finely ground
pinch of cayenne and cinnamon
50g milk powder (optional)
100ml water (or 85ml water and 15ml vodka)



Dice up the meats for grinding. The first time I made it with duck, but pork works very nicely. If using duck, you should add some fat.

After grinding, place meats into chilled bowl and beat in spices, milk powder and liquid. Continue beating to achieve a nice paste. stuff into sheep casings, or roll in plastic.







Sausage about place. What do you think? At least it tastes good.

Cheers.