Published: December 30, 2007 10:57 pm      

HARTLAND: A taste of old world at new European meat market

HARTLAND — At first glance, the big, brick building that houses the new European Meat Market and Deli looks plain and unoccupied. The site of the former Piatkowski Meats at 7968 Ridge Road in Hartland recently became a production facility for specialty meat products. The retail store is open for business four days a week to start. What waits inside is a delight to the senses.

The aroma of smoked meat fills the air as soon as you step inside. Two huge cases display meats like the good old days, without supermarket foam and plastic. Clerk Betty Steele, or maybe owner Walter Sadujko, himself, will explain what some of the tempting choices are, offering a fresh slice on a wax paper square for customers to sample.

On a recent visit, Sadujko was explaining his turkey stuffing loaf, as hungry customers sampled the thinly sliced product. Basically, it’s the light and dark meat of fresh turkey molded into a loaf and sliced like lunch meat. The taste is like freshly roasted turkey, reminiscent of the cold turkey sandwiches after Thanksgiving. They also make a chicken product the same way, with no fillers; just freshly cooked meat.

It’s the ham and sausages that make you feel as though you stepped into an old-world market. Polish sausage comes fresh or double-smoked and ready to eat. A thinner rope sausage called cabanos looks like a pepperoni stick, but is a delicate, mild Polish-style sausage great for snacks and hors d’oeuvres. Those holiday parties could also use some home-baked liver pate for crackers — it’s basically a liverwurst baked into a loaf for spreading.

In the ham case, customers will find about seven kinds of ham, different in spicing and curing, for every taste. Canadian-style bacon is pink, lean, moist and ready for breakfast. Sandwich fans will find specialties such as head cheese, pimento sausage, bologna, liverwurst, jellied tongue sausage, spiced ham and more; all are freshly made. There are also strings of freshly made hot dogs.

What’s the secret behind the specialties? The cases in the store reflect only a small part of the production behind the scenes. The week before Christmas, Sadujko and employees made and smoked more than 6,000 pounds of sausage for holiday celebrations across New York. They use cherry wood for smoking; five to six hours coiled on racks for the fragrant Polish sausage and about 12 hours for bacon and hams. Purchases are wrapped in sheets of brown butcher paper, just like the old days. There is nothing fancy or glitzy about the new business; it relies on a quality, handmade product to draw customers.

For nine years, Sadujko the butcher has owned successful stores in Rochester and Syracuse, offering imported smoked meats. At holiday time, customers are lined up outside the Rochester store to get their special orders. Through the USDA meat inspector who made the rounds, Sadujko learned about Piatkowski’s and their plan to close the business. The Ridge Road facility was a perfect place to put his sausage-making skills to use, and the store here produces the meat products for Rochester, Syracuse and now its own retail outlet. The owner is eager to see what his customers’ needs are and he plans to offer fresh meat in the near future. In a thick Polish accent, Sadujko explains, “We buy all the prime fresh meat to make our products so we have it on the premises. Why not offer freshly cut meats to our customers?” As word of the new market spreads and customers find his store, he is confident that they will come back.

Need a pickle to go with the sandwich? You’ll find tiny Polish dills in jars alongside red cabbage with apples and vegetable salad on tall shelves of imported products. There are mixes to produce Ukrainian borsch and other soups, and even Polish-style noodles. A large selection of boxed chocolates is imported from Germany, Denmark and other countries and includes melt-in-your-mouth chocolate and orange chocolate truffles, liquor candies and even specialty cookies.

German rye and white breads are brought in from Chicago, where there is a large Polish population. The Hartland store carries frozen pierogis from a popular Chicago producer, packed in dozens. They offer sauerkraut and mushroom, plain cheese, cheese and potato and more for fans of the plump, filled dough pockets. On a recent visit, the store offered imported poppy seed roll cake; a jelly-roll style cake filled with cherry cream and topped with glazed fruits; a jello cake; and cheesecake, all also brought from Chicago. A new pastry case will be coming in the future to house the sweet treats. “We’d like to bring things like Paczki (the traditional jelly-filled and glazed donut used to celebrate the day before Lent), Crusczicki (lightly dusted angel wings of deep fried dough) and other specialties, when business picks up enough to keep everything fresh,” Sadujko said.

The business employs four workers, and Steele loves to greet the friendly customers who come in to check out the new store. “They are always surprised at what we offer and we want them to be happy and come back for more.”

Barker Mayor Jo Ann Greenwald stopped by a few months ago when she saw signs of work going on at the business and got the grand tour from Sadujko while sausage was being made for the other stores. They talked about featuring some of his homemade specialty products at the popular weekly Farmer’s Market during harvest season in Barker. Sadujko thinks the fat, smoked sausages he makes for the barbecue grill would be a perfect fit for market shoppers and may even cook them on the spot. “A little mustard, a bun; people will love them,” Sadujko said.

Although he’s from Oakville, Ontario, Sadujko has a place here in the Johnson Creek area and has come to appreciate the small-town, friendly atmosphere he has found here.

The retail and wholesale store at 7968 Ridge Road is currently open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays; and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays. For more information, call 772-2950.