Local Foodies Link Up at Sausage Soiree

Nothing brings Brooklynites together like food. And on Tuesday, they got to the real meat of the subject – literally.

At a sold-out class of about thirty in the mezzanine level at , Cobble Hill's new local foods hotspot, Brooklyn Cured founder and chef Scott Bridi shared his sausage-making skills.

Here, they learned the sausage-making process, including how to mix the meat for texture and how to stuff the casings, and were also given a basic fresh sausage recipe.

Charismatic, talkative and with a touch of self-depracating humor slightly reminiscent of a young Woody Allen had he gone into food instead of film, Bridi had the class engaged from the minute he started.

He discussed his two types of meat, basic sausage and chicken, and gave a summary of what the class would cover. He explained the meaning of "fresh" sausage (a class of sausages that are uncooked and tend to be coarse), introduced the types of sausages being made (sweet Italian and garlic chicken), and talked about casings, using liquids such as wine to achieve texture and the importance of timing in mixing. (Note: the meat was already ground up.)

After seasoning and prepping the meat, volunteers were invited up to the table to mix the raw meat and stuff the casings using a stuffer. Bridi explained how to purchase, treat, prepare and store casings before doing a brief stuffing demo, which many described as "fun."

A friendly, bashful Brooklynite from Bensonhurst, Bridi, who comes from "a big Italian family," started Brooklyn Cured last fall, where it was based around the locavore movement and local markets such as Brooklyn Flea.

"I'm not big on recipes in general," he said,  starting things off with a brief introduction and sharing some of his personal philosophies, including the use of recipes only as "guidelines." 

"I think they're a little stifling and misleading."

By 10 p.m., when the class was scheduled to end, a small crowd was still gathered around the table, watching Scott seal sausages and create links, and waiting for their take-home goodies.

"I thought that Scott was really fun," said Christy Karr. "I thought he was drunk. It's funny that he's not."

"It's really fun, it's a good group," said Elena Avramov. "I don't even eat sausage, but it was interesting for me to see the process, and he likes it a lot," she said, motioning to the gentleman seated next to her, Dan Alger.

He made it sort of accessible," said Alger. "I think for a lot of folks it's difficult to picture. He made it seem easy."