Are there any two more beautiful words in all the world than “Pork Store”?
If there are, I’m unaware of them. And it was these two magical words that came out of Isaac’s mouth early Saturday afternoon as we were bandying about what to cook for dinner.
I wanted a pork roast, he wanted a roasted chicken, and then somehow in searching the Internet, Isaac stumbled upon Rolf’s and all our wants and needs were forgotten. All we could think of was sausage.
So we jumped in the car and headed north and as we drove it became snowier and snowier. But we didn’t care! There were wursts and schinken at the end of the highway!
Rolf’s is all I could have dreamed of: Cases chock-full of sausages–fresh, smoked, aged and cooked–hams, two kinds of headcheese, half a dozen kinds of liverwurst, smoked goose breast ($36 a pound!), whole smoked turkeys, smoked ham hocks, various bacons, multiple kinds of hot dogs, and pinklewurst, a sausage made of fat and oats and one of my very favorites (I only allow myself to eat at most once a year).
Also on tap? My very favorite German throat lozenges (sage flavored!), teas, mustards, pickled cabbages, curry ketchup (hot and mild!), limburger cheese, mushroom-flavored Laughing Cow-style pyramids of soft cheese, tinned fishes, speculaas cookies, chocolate Advent calendars, stroopwaffeln, soups, noodles, mixes for soup dumplings, spatzle and pudding, chocolates, spices, bread, crackers and oh so much more.
We bought bockwurst and bauernwurst and a fresh ham hock and headed home.
Isaac picked two large handfuls of lacinato kale in the snow and we cooked them all together with a mire poix of grated celeriac, onions and garlic kale and barley to make a hearty, warm, filling soup perfect for the season’s first snow.
Vielen dank Rolf!
A Chicken In Every Granny Cart 
“Cellar door.” – According to Donnie Darko, anyway. :)
You are so lucky to have all this beautiful snow, it’s absolutely stunning – the store does not sound half bad either. It’s only a quarter past nine here and I’m thinking Hmmmmm headcheese. Lunch is a long, long way away.
Wow, thanks! Next time I’m in Albany, I am there. In the meantime, you might want to consider taking a day trip to the Smokehouse of the Catskills, just outside of Saugerties. It used to be called the Veteran Pork Store; at one time it had the venerable “pork store” moniker. It’s a great place, all sorts of house made sausages and meats, and good german products. I’ve never seen smoked goose there, however, one reason to make the trip to Rolf’s!
I was hoping for snow when I visited my sister in East Hampton, but alas – all we got was rain. Thanks for sharing yours with those of us southern Californians who are snow-deprived!!
Pork store, pork store, pork store. I just can’t stop saying those beautiful words.
Enjoy the snow!
Lindsay — Oh how funny! I don’t remember that from “Donnie Darko”, so obviously I have to rewatch it soon.
Nath — It’s nice to hear that other people love headcheese too. It’s only 7.30am here now, and yeah, I’m thinking about lunch now too :-)
Julia — Wow, I’ve never heard of that place! I used to hang out in the Saugerties area a lot in high school, but I was a vegetarian then, so I guess that explains that :-) Before you incorporate Rolfs into an Albany trip, be sure to check their times. They’re one of those stores that closes at 3pm and isn’t open on Sundays.
Toni — If I had known I would have sent some to you! Just kidding, I wish I could. There is actually a whole ‘nother set of photos I wanted to share, but I was so sick last week that blogging just never made it to the fore.
Christina — Fun, right? But not nearly as fun as Romeo & Juliet!