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.: Welcome to Fetzers

Fetzer’s German Brand Sausages are authentic Old World recipe sausages produced using the freshest, leanest, hand crafted all natural meats, and the finest ingredients available. We use Carlton Farms meat exclusively, which is truly “Fresh and Natural.” It is minimally processed. It contains no artificial ingredients, chemicals, preservatives, or coloring. No hormones, injected moisture, or curing accelerators are used. The sausages are made to exacting specifications weekly, with lean 100% meat. We do not use MSG, fillers, or additives that some manufacturers use to add weight and cut costs. You can feel and taste the difference.

The Fetzer family has been hand crafting gourmet sausage products in Germany for over a century. Since 1880 they have been using the same old world recipes created by Eugen Fetzer’s grandfather. They are still in use today. Eugen and Marianne Fetzer produced their famous sausage in Germany for 25 years until they came to the United States in 1978. They founded Fetzer’s German Sausage and Deli on Cedar Hills Blvd. in Beaverton, Oregon, and operated a full service deli, and catering facility loved by many, until 1998. They also sold their products at several Farmers Markets throughout the Portland area. Since that time the Fetzers have continued making the sausage and selling it wholesale and at the various Farmers Markets.

  

.: History of Sauerkraut

Although sauerkraut - German for "sour cabbage" - is thought of as a German invention, Chinese laborers building the Great Wall of China over 2,000 years ago ate it as standard fare. Chinese sauerkraut, made from shredded cabbage fermented in RICE WINE, Most likely it was brought to Europe 1000 years later by Gengis Kahn after plundering China. Although in Germany instead of using the wine they dry cured it by sprinkling salt on the shredded cabbage. The water is then drawn out of the cabbage to make the juice that you see that accompanies the kraut. The Dutch , who were great sea-fearing traders used sauerkraut on their ships as it did not need refrigeration and helped prevent scurvy. Today's sauerkraut is made by combining shredded cabbage, salt and sometimes spices, and allowing the mixture to ferment. It can be purchased in jars and cans in supermarkets. Fresh sauerkraut is sold in delicatessens and in plastic bags in a supermarket's refrigerated section. It should be rinsed before being used in casseroles, as a side dish and even on sandwiches like the famous REUBEN SANDWICH. Sauerkraut is an excellent source of vitamin C as well as of some of the B vitamins. There is a theory that the Tartars introduced the acid cabbage from the Orient into eastern Europe, and from there kraut went to Germany, Alsace-Lorraine, and France.

.: Sausage Legacy

Probably few things identify your German heritage more than making sausage. It was a means of survival of our German ancestors during the winter months, as well as not wasting precious meat scraps, Although most civilizations came up with the idea for a sausage, our forefather's and mother's ingenuity probably came up with the idea of using the intestines to put all the little parts of the pig that were left over including the blood all on their own. Nothing was wasted except the squeak. According to my favorite food historian Alan Davidson the best sausage makers were in the colder countries like Germany as opposed to Mediterranean countries where food was more available during the cooler months. The best cured sausages seem came from mountainous regions where the dryer northern winds helped in the curing process. This is why Britain wasn't known to produce good cured sausages. Some attempts at making cured sausages back then resulted in a new form of bacteria poisoning which they later called Botulism, which the word comes from Botellus, a latin word for sausage. the use of Nitrates and proper sausage making have eliminated this. Where does the word Bratwurst come from? one theory is that BrAt is an Old High German word (spoken between the 9th and 11th centuries) that means ....meat without waste ....and Wurst means sausage and probably comes from the word wirren that originally meant mixture. When you cook sausage you are performing one of the oldest cooking techniques. The first recorded cookbook “Apicus Cookery” from approx. 228 AD has sausage recipes in it. Apicus lived in Rome. But who knows when and where this technique began. Our German heritage is even more identified with sausage as the pig was the animal of choice for meat as probably beef is in America, Unsurprisingly the pig is a good luck symbol in Germany. Also it is very cold in the winters, sausage was an excellent way to preserve the pig and use up all the trimmings ….”all but the tail and the oink” as some have put it. In America our German ancestors have really kept the Bratwurst tradition going. It has become a social food in places like Wisconsin where they have “Brat frys” on the weekends like they have BBQ’s in the south.


.: thank you!

Thank you for visiting Fetzers German Brand Sausage


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