Made in Milwaukee since 1880

A few weeks ago, the New York Times published a piece by Dan Berry that ran with the title, “Farewell to a Lost Love of Lunches Past: Liverwurst.” The headline was sad, but in truth, caught me by surprise. Barry writes that his beloved liverwurst “is disappearing right in front of me.” As is so often the case, the perspective from New York is not exactly holistic. If you live here in Ann Arbor you can just walk into the Deli pretty much any day of the week and find plenty of wonderful Usinger’s liverwurst displayed front and center in the specialty foods meat case. If you live out of town, we’re happy to ship you some as soon as you order it!

Going back to the first few months of 1982, I’d read about Usinger’s as we were getting ready to open our doors. Back before the web, research was a lot more challenging, but nevertheless we were determined to assemble the best possible selection of full-flavored and traditional foods. All signs seemed to point to Usinger’s being pretty terrific. “The best in the country,” many said. The week we opened, the New York Times ran a piece by renowned food writer Mimi Sheraton about her search for high-quality liverwurst. After looking nationwide but finding few great products, she’d almost given up. Then she said, she stumbled on Usinger’s:

Made without preservatives and still in natural casings, the varieties produced by this 102-year-old concern in its Milwaukee factory can still be considered gastronomic triumphs.

As you might imagine, I called for samples. The flavor backed up all the advance PR—Usinger’s liverwurst was lovely. Delicious. Down to earth, definitely traditional, and very full flavored. Forty-two years later, Usinger’s stuff is still terrific.

Fred Usinger came to the U.S. in 1880, right around when cream cheese was first being made in upstate New York, from his hometown of Wehen in southern Germany, northwest of Frankfurt. In Milwaukee, Mr. Usinger began making sausage at the butcher shop of Mrs. Julia Gaertner on what was then the high end of Milwaukee’s shopping district. A few years later, he bought the shop from her, changed the name, and it has been Usinger’s ever since.

We regularly stock both Usinger’s Braunschweiger and Hessiche Landleberwurst. The former is the more lightly smoked of the two. Braunschweiger is bigger in size, but milder in flavor. Basically, it’s a pâté in a natural pork casing; a finely ground pork version of chopped liver; it’s just fresh pork liver, pork, onion, beef fat, and spices, smoked lightly over hickory.

Hessiche Landleberwurst, which is listed on our website as “Smoked Liverwurst,” is made of pork, pork liver, pork fat, salt, onions, and spices. It’s “double smoked” in the style of the German state of Hesse, with plenty of good pork fat and a healthy dose of cracked black pepper, and comes in a golden-colored natural casing. Spicier, smokier, and a bit moister than the Braunschweiger, it’s terrific for sandwiches or snacks, for casual picnics, or very fancy get-togethers.

At the Deli we also have Usinger’s Liver Sausage, listed as “Fresh Liverwurst.” The same pork liver and sweet onions but not smoked! All three are amazing!

The natural casings Usinger’s uses are rarely seen these days but are critical to the quality of the finished product. They allow the pork and liver to breathe and smoke to properly penetrate. Same goes for the old school, careful grinding that Usinger’s does. Modern industrial versions extrude the meat leading to a pasty, bitter product.

All of the Usinger’s liverwursts go great on sandwiches with some Swiss mountain cheese, Raye’s yellow mustard (from the last stone mustard mill in the U.S., in Eastport, Maine), and a slice of sweet onion. Great too on the Caraway Rye bread from the Bakehouse with some long-cooked, caramelized onions!

Dan Barry wrote in the Times, “I know, I know. I know that liverwurst is still out there to be found, in some delicatessen display cases … but its gradual vanishing feels like something removed from life’s menu.” Here in Ann Arbor, thanks to the folks at Usinger’s in Milwaukee, great liverwurst is very much alive and well. Maybe I should ship some to Mr. Barry to lift his liverwurst-loving spirits! Or I might suggest he go back to the New York Times pages to the winter of 1997, when another writer in the “paper of record” shared with readers that Usinger’s, though not in New York City, was nevertheless “generally considered to be the Tiffany’s of sausage makers.”

Usinger’s at the Deli

And at Mail Order