Every other Wednesday until September, local chefs and butchers will square off at Wellington restaurant Marben to determine who is the true sausage king of Toronto.
It resembled a CNE corndog, only girthier. But one bite into the glorified Pogo stick, dipped first in chunky lobster aioli, and it was clear this was no funfair refection.
The sweetly battered sausage on a chopstick was one of two competitors facing off last night at Marben’s Sausage League, a five-month showdown between a dozen of the city’s now ubiquitous meat-worshipping dining establishments.
Marben is turning this foodie sausage party into a sport. Every other Wednesday night until the end of September, pop into the Wellington Street restaurant and you’ll get two original sausages and a Steam Whistle pilsner for $25. Spots like Enoteca Sociale, The Healthy Butcher and La Palette will be vying for the title.
Last night’s sausage-off featured the Pogo, a creation of Chris Brown of The Stop Community Food Centre, versus a pair of slender lamb and lavender bangers atop a bed of green peas, care of Table 17’s executive chef John Sinopoli.
Discerning couples evaluated their tubular fare by candlelight, to a soundtrack of sultry jazz. “I’m not usually a sausage person,” mused Marben newbie Jessica Malynyk, looking at her portion of Table 17’s lamb dish. “They’re usually too fatty and spicy, but these were quite tasty.” Malynyk declined to try the The Stop’s breaded number, however. “I couldn’t talk her into it,” said her foodie tablemate Robert Magnoli, as Carl Henrich, Marben’s baby-faced, 26-year-old executive chef, flitted from table to table behind him.
After tallying the votes of some 50 diners, The Stop won the honour of advancing to round two in August. It was a delicious exercise in culinary democracy, and brought with it an important lesson: let the audience pick the wiener, and they’ll go for the classy corn dog every time.
