Oh, The Umamity

The family picked me up on Friday and we went to Vermont- only an hour away- for the weekend. On the way up, and for much of the preceding week, we had been excitedly talking about Pascal’s sausages: the trademark culinary treat of all recent Vermont trips. Our favorites include his merguez, cabbage and bacon, chicken and blueberry, and his crepinettes of duck with green peppercorn and rabbit with figs. These sausages are so good that calm, temperate people become crazed, wild eyed hyenas after trying them. There are never any left over, no matter how many were bought. They are pupil-dilatingly awesome.

Saturday morning, we bounded down to the farmers’ market to load up- some for dinner, some more to take home with us. We got the really good donuts, looked at some excellent stoneware, and wandered around, suddenly and simultaneously realizing that Pascal wasn’t there. We asked pottery guy, and he said, clearly bereft, that Pascal has shut down due to some regulatory and/or financial issues. A little piece of me died inside when I heard. Christine almost wept. The sausages are no more.

I have now taken it upon myself to duplicate a few- at least the duck and rabbit (I have already made good merguez) since we have an excellent source for them. I will not let these superlative sausages go gently into that good night. They will rise from the ashes to be grilled again. There will be more sausage parties (the good kind.) Oh yes. But they will also have to wait until later on this summer, after all this business tapers off a little.

Also, his terrines were pretty good.