A Banger in the Mouth

If you watched "Arrested Development," this title is for you. If you have not yet seen this show, watch the episodes with Mrs. Featherbottom and you will understand. Whether you follow the Bluths or not, you should still read this post and check out The Branded Butcher in Athens, Georgia.

A banger, FYI, is UK slang for "sausage." For example, bangers and mash on a pub menu is sausage and mashed potatoes. I'm picky about a lot of things, sausage being one of them. Breakfast sausage patties especially being one of them. In my experience breakfast sausage is one of those things that comes out either too salty with no other balancing flavors or a little peppery and rubbery. I guess that's why it's always served with pancakes, so the sweetness outweighs the salt. Or you can wrap breakfast sausage in a pancake if you're into fair food at 7 a.m.

I digress. While breakfast sausage is not my favorite meat product, I find bratwurst to be mouthwatering. Prior to this weekend, I only had two places that I would go regularly for bratwurst: the UGA Meat Science Technology Center in Athens and Augsburg Haus in Evans, Georgia. At the UGA MSTC, students and staff actually make meat products from animals harvested from the on-campus slaughter facility. It is fresh, it is local (like, you buy it in the room next to where it's harvested!) and it is dang good. I won't delve into detail about Augsburg Haus right now because I'm suddenly inspired for a visit there soon and it'll get a piece of its own!

I'm adding the habanero bratwurst at Branded Butcher into my top three. Thinking back on this meal makes me hangry. I want to go back for more now.

Habanero bratwurst and a biscuit on the side at The Branded Butcher in
Athens, Georgia

The bratwurst arrives in a little black metal container with creamy, buttery polenta. On top of the polenta is a cross-section of a "cured French horn mushroom," which I'd never eaten before. It was a tad sweet and nutty. The top portion had the soft feel normally associated with fungi, and the closer you got to the volva (base), the filaments got a little closer together, leading to a little more toughness. The accompaniment to all of this was an "agrodolce." When I saw it on the menu, being the super savvy foodie I am, I had no idea what it meant. When I started to write this post I double-checked the menu and then Googled it.

Hopefully I am not the only uncultured person in this world who doesn't know what agrodolce is, so let me teach you. According to the Food Network food encyclopedia (cool; until six seconds ago I did not know this existed), agrodolce is a sweet and sour sauce of Italian origin. In the case of The Branded Butcher, agrodolce is a mix of diced veggies that are sweetened and a little pickled. It added texture to the grits, color to the plate and an awesome flavor mix when you got a bite that had every component of the charcuterie in it: nutty from the 'shroom, salty from the polenta, sweet and sour from the agrodolce, spicy from the bratwurst.

Brown sugar cubes + a glass milk bottle of creamer:
how coffee is served at the Butcher's brunch

I mean, what do you expect when it is called "habanero bratwurst" on the menu, breakfast sausage?! Heck naw, y'all. What I like the most about bratwurst compared to other sausages is how finely ground the meat is inside the casing. The spices and flavor components are blended in better and you're less likely to end up with a giant herb piece stuck in your teeth (reason No. 1 why I shy away from Italian sausage). In essence, a bite of habanero bratwurst looks innocent, because until you shove a forkful into your salivating mouth, you don't realize just how much habanero is in there. I may or may not have asked for a glass of milk (which comes served with a cute little paper straw and I felt like a very happy 6-year-old). But it was so incredible that I couldn't stop myself. The heat hits the tongue, then the back of your throat, but you've got the mushroom and the agrodolce and the savoriness from the meat itself. I say "meat" because traditionally bratwurst is a pork and veal blend, but can be solely pork as well, and the menu here did not specify.

Tip: Get a biscuit on the side. It's well-worth it, because you can turn it into a little breakfast sandwich of habanero bratwurst, sauce and butter. Plus it makes you feel a little more brunch-like if you're showing up and ordering non-breakfast sausage before noon.

Boozy Bonus!

There's a brunch option called The Hipster Breakfast. It is only served after 12:30 p.m. It includes a PBR. I will let you draw your own conclusions.