The Italian community has always been a huge influence in the Rochester, NY, area in culture but especially in food. I remember going to delis with meats hanging from the ceiling, breads resting hot on the counters and fresh sausages in the case. Since northern California doesn’t have these old-fashioned delis, I missed these places and the flavor and texture of authentic Hot Italian sausage.
I stayed in Canandaigua for a couple of weeks when I arrived in March and found an authentic deli, Casa Italiana. Who would have thought that a deli of this caliber exists in this small town? When you walk through the door, the aroma of parmigiana fills your nostrils, just like it’s supposed to in an old-fashioned authentic deli. I bought some sausage and went home to cook and loved it! The casings were popping, the grind and flavor – perfect – and just what I remembered years ago. I decided to do a Hot Italian Sausage tasting to see what others are producing.
I bought sausages from Casa Italiana; the iconic Rochester deli, Rubino’s, and four other delis and markets. Since I just moved back to the area and rather not tick people off, I’m only mentioning those whom I found produce authentic sausages. I cooked them immediately, froze one of each fresh and froze part of the cooked sausage. I was in Italian Sausage heaven and on a mission. A few were off the mark: one used paprika as evidenced in the photo with the orange grease. I returned to that market since I thought they sold me Andouille instead of Hot Italian, but nope that’s how they roll. Another had an off-putting smell and the casings tasted synthetic. A couple others had very little taste and certainly not authentic Hot Italian sausages.
So what constitutes an authentic Hot Italian Sausage? I sat down with both John Grasso from Casa Italiana and Carmen Posella from Rubino’s who each stated that there’s only three ingredients in addition to the pork shoulder: salt, pepper and fennel.
John Grasso is a third generation shop owner whose family came from Sicily. His father owned a deli on Dewey Avenue in Rochester and where John learned how to make sausage at the age of five. His process is simple since everything is fresh, no fillers and made by hand. He makes up to 600 pounds of sausage weekly and has customers from all over New York. “One customer comes in from Buffalo and buys 50 pounds for himself and friends.”
I give John credit for keeping his family’s heritage alive since Italian family businesses are closing and we’re losing these special producers. It’s a lot of hard work and obviously a labor of love and his products taste it.
Car
men Posela has been Rubino’s Meat Manager for twelve years. He’s not a family member but might 
as well be since it’s obvious when you walk in that he and everyone are treated like family. Rubino’s has at least ten varieties of sausages available daily and I was intrigued not only with their Hot Italian but also their Sicilian Fennel Sausage. They use sheep casing with pork shoulder, nutmeg, fennel, salt and pepper. They sell the sausage rolled up since the casing is smaller in diameter than pork and held together with a skewer. I cooked it up with red peppers, onions and mushrooms and is absolutely delicious and makes a great presentation.
In all fairness, I couldn’t possibly go to every deli-shop-market in the Rochester area and if you know of a great sausage maker, please contact me.
It should also be noted that all products discussed on these blog posts are purchased by the author. If you know of a Rochester food product that should be included, please let me know.
