The Love Tool: The Tre Spade Sausage Filler
DeSousa and Jackson with their Tre Spade Sausage Filler
The Chefs: Between them, Connie DeSousa and John Jackson have impressive pedigrees. DeSousa’s resume includes stints at the St. Regis Hotel, San Francisco, Jean Georges in New York, and Chez Panisse in Berkeley, while John helped open Jean Georges Vongerichten’s Restaurant Lagoon in Bora Bora and served as executive chef at the St. Regis Hotel, San Francisco. In December 2009, DeSousa and Jackson plan to open CHARCUT Roast House in Calgary, Alberta.
The Love Tool: The Tre Spade Sausage Filler. (Available at www.halfordhide.com $775. (Editor’s note: A price list for custom tanning and taxidermy services is available at the site.)
Where You First Fell For It, And Why: Says John: “We were in Italy last year and spent some time with a friend who has a small truffle farm outside of Roccafluvione. We helped with the seasonal salumi preparation alongside the town butcher, and made several kinds of salami as well as loza and prosciutto. The butcher had a Tre Spade Sausage filler and we fell in love with it on the first crank.
“The one we used in San Francisco was a difficult machine to clean and was not user-friendly. The Tre Spade Sausage filler was so smooth and simple to use that it made the whole experience that much better. When we moved to Calgary to work on opening CHARCUT, one of the first things we did was to pick up a Tre Spade.”
How You Use The Tool: “We make several kinds of sausage both fresh and dried (fermented).”
Interesting Factoid: The world’s longest sausage is 6,643 feet! (Editor’s note: The world’s longest sausage, made in Turija, Serbia, is actually an annual contest, and they promptly set out to break the record each year by adding another centimeter to the length.)
Do You Use It For Anything Besides Sausage? No.
Do You Have Any Unique Flavor Combos? “We make several kinds of sausage with every part of the animal from nose to tail. One of my favourite is a simple sausage called Cotecchino which is made with pork shoulder, belly and the skin from the pig. I poach it for several hours and then chill it in the poaching liquid. When it’s cold, I slice off medallions and sear it in butter. It has a melt-in-your-mouth texture with a unique flavour profile of interesting spices.”
