Making artisanal sausage at Esposito's
Photo credit: Dave Sanders | Esposito and Sons Pork Shop at 354 W. 38th St. in Manhattan. Esposito's first opened in New York City in 1933 and has offered New Yorkers a wide selection of high quality sausage products
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When Giovanni Esposito opened his Mulberry Street butcher shop in 1933, the neighborhood was the destination point for fresh meat and fish. Today, Giovanni Esposito & Sons, run by Giovanni's grandson, Robert Esposito and relocated to Hell's Kitchen, is one of a dying breed of specialty stores in the neighborhood that has maintained both its stellar reputation and its clientele.
"We have a lot of the same customers from when my father was here," says Esposito. "The generations may change at Esposito's, but I see the customers change in the same way. The children of old customers are my new customers."
Esposito says he is constantly fielding phone calls for wannabe apprentices. "I get calls all the time from chefs just asking if they can come and work here so they can learn, because when they go to culinary school they don't teach them anything about butchering. Every time a butcher shop closes, that's one less place where people can learn," he says.
What's kept this butcher shop in business -- outside of the fact that Esposito owns the building the store is housed in -- is word of mouth. That, and the fact that he sells some of the best sausages in town. The uninitiated may like their supermarket sausages just fine, but Esposito swears, "it's not the same. It's definitely not the same." If you don't believe him, head to his Ninth Ave. shop for a sample.
"People will come in never having tried a sausage and we'll say, 'just try it once. Just try it once and you'll like it,' and then it's all over."
Talking to Robert Esposito
What makes Esposito's sausages stand out? It's the fact we use the same recipe as years ago. It's using the freshest ingredients and using the pork butts. We don't use fillers, we don't use any fat trimmings in our meats. It's just pork butts.
What's your best seller? Our best sellers are our sausages with aged provolone cheese and parsley.
How did you get involved with Food Network? We've been doing Food Network for the past 22 years. Basically, it was a small network when we started with them, and it was just basic shows, like how to cook a pork loin.
Did you ever imagine Food Network would get so big? Well, I figured they'd get big when Emeril came on.
RECIPE Mozzarella and broccoli rabe sausage Serves 5 Tools: Kitchen twine; sausage stuffer, a long funnel or a pastry bag
Ingredients: 2 ½ feet natural sausage casings (available at many butcher stores) ½ cup broccoli rabe 2 ½ pounds ground pork butt ¼ fresh mozzarella, chopped into 1/8-inch chunks ½ tablespoon fennel seeds ½ tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes ½ tablespoon salt ½ teaspoon pepper
Directions 1. Soak the sausage casings for 20 minutes. 2. When done soaking casings, wash them under the faucet, allowing the water to flush out the insides. 3. Steam broccoli rabe, covered, for 3 minutes, then chop fine. 4. Combine broccoli rabe, pork butt, mozzarella, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Mix together by hand. 5. Twist one end of the washed sausage casing and tie with kitchen twine.6. Fit a sausage stuffer, a long funnel or a pastry bag into the opening of the casing and push sausage through. As you stuff the casing, push the sausage through so it disperses evenly and doesn't bunch up in any one area. 7. After you have stuffed the casing with all the meat, twist the open end of the sausage and tie with kitchen twine. Twist the sausage every 6 inches or so to make links. 7. Put sausage in a frying pan filled halfway up with water (do in batches if necessary). Let sausages steam for 10-12 minutes over low-medium heat, or until the water evaporates. 8 Add one to two tablespoon olive oil to the pan and brown sausages on all sides.
Giovanni Esposito & Sons 500 Ninth Ave., at 38th St. 212-279-3298
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