Food Wars: Battle of the Italian Sausages

What better way to start off the grilling season than to have a Memorial Day slugfest amongst some of the top Italian sausage purveyors in the New York City metro area?  In a duel for the ages, "Sundaysauce" pitted the finest from salumerias in Staten Island, the Bronx and Yonkers against one another.
We had a full cast of characters on hand to sample the salumerias' finest fare, so the sausages would be vetted by a most discerning crowd.

And in this corner . . . 

The contenders included the following:

- Pastosa's of Staten Island

- A&S Pork Store of Yonkers

- Biancardi's of Arthur Ave. in the Bronx

We bought links of both sweet (no fennel) and hot sausages and then conducted a blind-taste test at Mom B's Memorial Day BBQ.  The sausages were served sans any accoutrements, e.g., bread, pepppers, onions or anything else that could alter the taste.

And the winner is. . .

Sweet Sausage Winner: Pastosa's

In the battle of the sweet sausage, it was a close call, with Pastosa's rated No. 1 by 4 voters and No. 2 by 3 voters.  Coming in at second place was A&S Pork Store which chalked up 3 first place votes and 2 second place spots.

Hot Sausage Winner: Tie between A&S Pork Store and Pastosa

For the hot sausage contest, Pastosa's and A&S Pork Store battled to a tie as they both notched 3 first place votes.  An interesting sidebar to the hot sausage contest was that three different voters - Dad B and the two Grandma's, all declared it a dead heat finish between the three contestants.

Additional Notes:

- Biancardi's of Arthur Ave. was handed a resounding ass-whupping as they only notched 2 first place finishes out of 20 different votes.

- Jonny Mangia voted Pastoso's - A&S - Biancardi's for both contests

- Nikki voted A&S - Pastoso's - Biancardi for both contests

Nikki and I aren't surprised that Pastosa performed so well. We've enjoyed their sausage for years at Mom B's and in particular I've found their hot sausages to be otherworldly. What I did notice when examining the uncooked sausage is that Pastoso seemed to have more marbled fat content which is going
to lead to a tastier sausage, albeit one that will clog your arteries a hell of a lot quicker.

Lastly, my personal highlight was the sausage sandwiches which we created after the battle. Using A&S' noted broccoli rabe sausage, we combined the sausage with Rocky Road bread from Cuccio's Bakery of Brooklyn and a stellar onion and peppers combo that Nikki grilled up. Simply unreal!

 

Comments

[joe@italyville]

Actually... I think you guys are the winners. It all looks great.

[Chris]

Best shop for sausage is S&D on Crosby avenue, Pelham Bay in the Bronx. They have fantastic sausage, though I'll be trying A&S for sure.