Johnsonville Sausage

As a Brit in America one of the first things I discovered, food-wise, was that there's a very American English vocabulary when it comes to the noble sausage. For a start, where I come from a 'brat' is an irritating and possibly destructive child and a link is something in a watch strap or necklace. Here, a link is a sort of sausage and a brat is a sausage too, though individual brats aren't links. At least I think that's right, it's confusing. Anyway the term 'brat' is an abbreviation of the German 'bratwurst', which according to Wikipedia is derived from Old High German brätwurst, from brät-, which is finely chopped meat and -wurst, or sausage. However, again according to Wikipedia, bratwurst is "its own kind of food totally separate from sausage". None of this remotely bothers the Johnsonville company, renowned for their bratwurst, yet whose slogan is "Sausage is all we do". And my goodness, they do an awful lot of it. In the USA it is, I think, the leading brand of sausage, or brat, or whatever, and occupies pride of place in all the supermarket processed meat cabinets. And unlike most American sausages, you have to cook your brats yourself, on the grill or in water being the most common ways. The next most famous sausage brand offers a range of pre-cooked sausages including, believe it or not, a very passable attempt at a British Banger. Even if they do suggest you microwave it or boil it, which really is beyond the pale. I understand, though to be honest I never got around to wanting to know more, that the brat is also very much associated with the American hobby of tailgating, in itself associated with going to see a football game. Americans don't just park their cars in the car park and file into a stadium to watch a game, they park their cars several hours in advance, unpack their barbecues and portable coolers and their packs of brats and Bud and throw parties out of the backs of their SUVs. I've only been to one of these myself, and I must admit that it was an impressive affair. More so than the football game, the play and rules of which were a total mystery to me and remained so until the end, even after repeated attempts to explain it to me had failed miserably. To this day all I can tell you is that as far as I can see, it's a game for people who find cricket too exciting. But I digress. In addition to their range of brats, which offers fourteen different styles and flavors, Johnsonville also manufacture about another fifty or so different types of sausage which fall into the Italian, Breakfast and Smoked categories. Italian sausages have a distinct flavoring which is on the spicy side and can be mild or hot, smoked sausages include many styles which would be a mystery to the English market - wieners, franks, Polish, and bologna, and Breakfast sausages, well, the Americans have a style all of their own for these. And most popular, I think, are the ones which are flavored with brown sugar and honey, or maple syrup, to appeal to the much sweeter tastes of the American market, and the ones with added cheese, another very American taste. The site is a good representation of the product range and offers expansive descriptions and methods for each of the many different sausages on offer. Admittedly the cooking instructions might be deemed overkill (place in pan, cook; place in microwave, heat) but for people who find themselves faced with a pack of sausages that has lost its label, no doubt it's a great relief to be able to find this information online. There are also a considerable number of recipes, most of which are aimed at the family cook looking to produce substantial meals on a very low budget. Whilst these inevitably follow the formula "take any meat recipe, remove meat, substitute sausage", you could live very cheaply on them and that's really the selling point. Lastly but not least, I have to tell you that although naturally not a match for a properly made English sausage, the American Brat is really rather good. I don't know if these are available in England yet - maybe someone will tell me? - but should they ever reach those shores I think they'll soon occupy a permanent place on the supermarket shelves. Meanwhile if you want a taste of America, you could always substitute a decent banger in any of the recipes here and produce a mid-Atlantic treat. EDIT Forgot to mention, if you are in the USA you can also use the site to get coupons off Johnsonville products. And if you register for the Enthusiasts Club, you may "quite possibly receive random free stuff". Has to be worth it.

These folks must be a bunch of snowflakes, no accountability don't care about the consumer. But I guess that's the world we live in now under a corrupt and evil Biden regime and a bunch of woke corporations. Nithing is getting any better.