Make that a Double Brat with the works!

For the most part, our first year here in Ethiopia hasn’t been plagued by “missing” the foods of home too much. Sure, it would be nice to drive-through at Wendy’s and get a large frosty to share, but we don’t allow our minds to focus on such things. Well, at least we try. Sometime early last week, I was lying in bed as Andrea slept beside me and I carelessly let my mind wander. I was thinking about friends in Texas and particularly how fun it would be to have a backyard barbeque at one particular home. The smell of the charcoal/wood, the sound of sizzling meat, the aroma of B.O. after having played some pick-up b-ball and the taste of grilled delicacies…better yet, my mind flew back home to Wisconsin where this time of year is also characterized by outdoor cookouts. However, whereas Texas barbeques will have some savory steaks, smoked ribs or tender brisket; a Wisconsin, and especially a Sheboygan cookout must feature some hometown Johnsonville bratwurst. It was here that I should have shut my mind off and gone to sleep, but no, my mouth began to water at the thought of a double brat with the works, served on a Sheboygan hard roll…there is no substitute for that!

 

Not wanting to admit my mental carelessness to Andrea, I didn’t say anything for a few days. But, like most things, it found its way out of my mouth on Thursday afternoon when I simply said “I was thinking the other day, ‘it would be nice to have a good ole bratwurst.’” To my surprise, Andrea immediately replied “me too!” (which is particularly strange because bratwurst aren’t known to top the “healthy diet” list that Andrea prefers). Nevertheless, it was decided. We would find the closest thing to a brat here in Addis in an attempt to satisfy these mutual cravings. So, the very next day, we stopped at “Prime Meats,” a butcher shop that sells pork products (which is tough in a culture where pig meat is deemed unclean by both the Orthodox Church and Islamic faith).  We picked out two sausages that kinda looked like brats and three “hot dogs” and promptly prepared them for lunch the next day (Saturday).

 

Did they suffice? Well, kinda. The sausages were nice, although they only had about half of the flavor that I would expect in a real brat. The hot dogs had more taste than we expected as there was some sort of a hot spice mixed in. Neither were bad, just different. The buns were just the local sub-bun like white bread, which was fine, but once again, falling short of Sheboygan’s, or more specifically Fuzzy the Baker’s masterpiece hard rolls! So yes, in some ways, our cravings were satiated, however, as with most things, nothing replaces the original. Which is fine, it leaves us yet one more thing to look forward to on furlough. And after several years here, the real Johnsonville bratwurst on a real Sheboygan hard roll will taste just that much better!