Crown Heights Culinarians Introduce Pesach Sausages
Sausage is a sin no more – even for Passover. Two Crown Heights foodies who started a kosher meat and deli business 18 months ago are adding specially-made sausage for the holiday which starts Friday at sundown.
“Never in the history of Passover have Jews had sausage, ” said Jack Silberstein, 26, showing off the $7.99 packs of Spicy Southwestern and Beef Kielbasa links from Jack’s Gourmet.
While pork sausage is always prohibited under Jewish law, other types like chicken and turkey are permitted – but banned along with many other foods on Passover because they contain starchy ingredients.
The kosher-for-Passover treats were born after Silberstein and his partner Dr. Alan Broner, 64, a dentist, had to shut down their Newark factories during the holidays last year.
So, for this Passover they came up with the special holiday sausage and have already sold 60,000 pieces. ShopRites and kosher grocery shops in New York and across the country sell the goods.
They hope it will be an alternative to the usual Passover fare, like matzoh ball soup and brisket.
“Everyone has the same thing every year,” said Silberstein.
“You can have sausage with peppers. You can have chilli,” offered Broner, who runs Jack’s Gourmet out of his Montgomery Street home.
It’s against Jewish law to eat unleavened food during the eight days of Passover – which honors the fleeing ancient Israelites, busy escaping Pharaoh’s wrath, leaving no time to bake snacks for the road.
“I did a lot of research and found all the spices that I was allowed to use,” said Silberstein about the secret Passover recipes.
Jack’s Gourmet has developed a reputation for its Brooklyn ethnic sausage flavors like Jamaican Style Jerk Chicken and Mexican Style Chorizo.
Both Silberstein and Broner are now orthodox Jews but were not religious and collected cooking tips from Caribbean friends.
The pair became pals three years ago bonding during a debate over how to make authentic jerk chicken after meeting in a flower shop.
“I challenged him to a Jerk chicken throw down,” said Broner . “We don’t tell who won or lost. It doesn’t matter. We became friends,” Silberstein said.
Their taste for a good piece of non-kosher meat is considered an an advantage in the kosher food market where many cooks are religious and can’t fathom the taste of pork or shell fish.
Manhattan’s priciest kosher restaurant group – owner of Prime Grill, Solo, and Prime KO – use Jack’s for their stuffings and soups.
“I can make sausage empanadas now,” said David Kolotkin, Prime Hospitality Group’s top chef. “It gives me more products to play with.”
Next up for Jack’s Gourmet?
“We are going to do kosher bacon next,” Silberstein said.
I love sausage
I really wan to try their products. One thing the kosher market is missing in the USA is a good sausage!
Keep up the good work.
Milhouse
“Never in the history of Passover have Jews had sausage,”
What nonsense. There have been Pesachdike sausages for as long as there have been chometzdike ones.
Milhouse
Oh, and Moshe at Pardes already does kosher bacon.
sima
go dr. broner! best dentist youll find anywhere!
Yossisalami
Is it chk badatz hechser?
Eli Mashhad
Is it aproved by harav Osdoba?
chaim
#5 is there a chk badatz ???? … if i am correct rabbi schwei says NO and rabbi osdoba says YES .. who is right?? … another question is there a badatz if the rabonim do NOT see eye to eye with each other??? not talking about having disagreements such i feel is normal people are NOT alike . so where is there a badatz??? … i feel we have rabonim and many nice ones in crown heights though i do NOT feel we have a bais din or badatz
BACON IS TREIF. PERIOD.
When The Rebbe was once told on Pesach that he is being served kneidlach, he responded with “kneidlach? Pesach?” and pushed the plate aside, although was told they are Pesachdik. We Chabadniks should take lesson and NEVER consider “kosher” bacon for the very same reason The Rebbe didn’t consider something called kneidlach kosher on Pesach, even after he was told that they are kosher l’Pesach kneidlach. Mah doch and kal v’chomer w.a treifa product: to call it kosher is misleading many unsuspecting secular Jews, who may take lesson from this and just buy any so called “kosher bacon” v’dei l’maivin.
You want to make something that has that treifa taste bec you need to drum up bs? At least, don’t call it “kosher” bacon. Bacon is NEVER kosher, no matter how one makes it, so if its kosher, IT IS NOT BACON.
At first you introduced women to the hippie style dress in the sixties, under the pretext that its more tznius, bla…bla….& look where that lead us to. Now you are introducing treifa tasting food,,,,,what’s going to come next from your kind?
uuummm
the title of this article is all wrong Gebruchts, garlic what else is in there …………………….
TooMuch
who needs this stuff??? paisach is only eight days, you can survive without coke and pizza.
btw why are you so proud of the fact that you ate kol miney traifus and know how that tastes? is this something to be proud of? who needs ham and crab tasting shnitzels?
my guess is your next item will be kosher d-r-e-k
pinny chaum
Jew eat Jewish maacholim not this…
For chabad no , friends of chabad may it this..
Milhouse
#8, the stuff Moshe produces at Pardes is kosher and it is bacon. It’s not chazer bacon, but it is bacon.
Milhouse
#10, who needs anything? Simchas yomtov is a mitzvah de’oraisa, and ein simcha elo bevosor veyayin. “Ichlu mashmanim ushesu mamtakim.” So what is your problem? What makes your yomtov delicacy better than mine or theirs?
wondering
we bought hotdogs!!!
Big fan of Jacks Gourmet
I love all of your products! keep of the good work!!
Milhouse
#11, how are your maacholim more Jewish than these?
????????
not kosher for passover and why is that guy showing off
CR
From what I gather from my non-Jewish office mates pork has little flavor of its own and needs to be spiced and cured to be more palatable. This is whysausage, ham and bacon emerged as pork products. Beef, having much more intrinsic flavors, requires less such processing and is generally eaten in its natural state. Accordingly, Jews were not privy to these cured food types historically as there was no need.
A salt and spice rub on a marinated steak is perfectly good all by itself without need for a carcinogenic Sodium Nitrite soaking.