Though the Purdue Trap and Skeet Team was the start of my friendship with Mike, it is our mutual love of food - both cooking and eating - that made him a best friend forever. Long before he was a student at Purdue, he was learning how to cut, grind, season, stuff, and smoke sausage. I am sure he learned A LOT about animals and how they become food as a student at Purdue and in his 40 plus year career. Though I am also sure he would say he learned the most important aspects of meat craft as a young child. What's not to love about a guy who was wearing a butcher's apron before he learned to ride a bike? (big smile)
Please join me for a quick (side) trip in the way back machine.... You see... Mike grew up in Trenton, New Jersey and he lived next door to the Tindik family. I bet if you grew up in Trenton back in the day, you would have fond memories of the John Tindik & Sons Hungarian Butcher Shop at 130 Home Avenue too. I think of them and that place with a warm smile and I never met any of them much less visited there. The three Tindik brothers and their wives - John & Mary, Joe & Katherine, and Louie & Lillian - owned and operated the grocery and butcher shop that was a social hub for the local Slavic community. Sisters Helen Hanusi, Jules Linzenbold, and Anna Oros helped out at the store over the years too. The Tindik family enterprise included a meat packing operation located in Bordentown, New Jersey, where they processed the meat they would package and sell in the store. The Tindik's even rendered their own lard.
Being good neighbors, Mike's Dad (Stephen) and his Grandparents (Michael and Helen) worked the store on Friday nights and Saturdays. The Tindik's signature sausage was Hungarian Kolbaz and they made it from an old family recipe. Though it was sold year-round, it was in particularly high demand around Easter and Christmas. It was not unusual for them to make and sell a thousand pounds of sausage a week during those holidays. It was here that Mike learned how to craft great sausage working alongside his family and his neighbors. Even though I have never met any member of the Tindik family, I am proud to say their star pupil is now imparting those childhood lessons to me. I count it as a blessing to be able to carry on their tradition in my community of Columbus, Ohio.
I am sure I am not the only one who gets excited learning how to properly employ a 50 year-old meat grinder and an over 100-year-old sausage stuffer. Maybe I am just hopeful that I am not the only one. (nervous chuckle) That is why when Mike called me last month and asked if I had time to join him in making another batch of sausage, I told him I was all in. It had been awhile since he showed me the first time and I figured I would benefit from further instruction. Unfortunately for those of you in the select group that is eager to watch and learn the art of sausage making, Mike doesn't offer any formal classroom instruction program with online registration. I bet if you called and asked him nicely though, he just might let you join in the next time we make a batch of the Tindik family's legendary Hungarian Kolbaz. I say the next time we make it because I am hoping he keeps inviting me too. I am a slow learner sometimes and it can take me several lessons to really get it right. If we're lucky, he will tell the story of how he earned the nickname Mad Dog. It seems my social hub is where the sausage is made rather than where it is sold. (earnest grin)
As a special treat, I invite my dedicated readers to sample for yourselves. If you are in Columbus and tasting that delicious sausage in your mind... Just give me a call. I will hook you up with a tasty plate full. Might even break out a loaf of Lucky Cat pumpernickel rye and some Polish sweet and sour cabbage to go with it. Mmmmmm. Now I'm hungry. Are you?
Your Dining Scout and Shadetree Chef,
Michael Hurd- aka Big Mike
Mike used this grinder when he worked at Smitty's Market in West Lafayette during his days at Purdue. Thankfully, the owners let him keep it. |
If you ever wondered what more than 100 pounds of sausage looks like... Wonder no more. |
After cutting, grinding, seasoning, and mixing... Mike rang the dinner bell... He knows how to treat a USDA Prime beef brisket too. |
I campaigned for this job. Mixing a large batch of sausage is way more fun that it looks. |
Stuffing all that sausage was more than a two person job. Our other helpers were Mike's wife Cyndi and his cousin Neil. If they hadn't helped, we might still be hard at work three days later. |
Smoke 'em if you got 'em. And what you've got here is the first 25 pounds we smoked. Six hours in the smoke for each batch. Finished on Sunday evening. |
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