Appetites: Ditch the bun for your brat and serve your sausages charcuterie-board style instead
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When it comes to picking a brat, the toppings and a side at the backyard barbecue, there’s a way to reduce decision anxiety.
A brat board is the “Midwestern cousin” to a French classic, the charcuterie board. It takes the idea of using various meats and toppings to create a sampler but with grilled local sausages. Madeline Summers of Mississippi Market Co-Op said it’s great for getting to try everything at a barbecue.
“We've got all these delicious sausages,” she said. “I want to try every single one.”
Whether your adding pickles, sauerkraut or pretzels, Summers said as long as you’re having fun with it, you can’t go wrong.
To make a brat board:
Grill up a few kinds of locally made sausages. Then slice them into bite-sized pieces and lay them out alongside pickles, krauts, tangy sauces and any other crunchy or fermented toppings you might normally put on top of your bratwurst.
Serve it family-style on a big platter for a mix-and-match experience to please both picky and adventurous eaters.
Local farms that use sustainable practices produce meats that are perfect for a brat board, Summers said. The local sausages she suggests are listed here.
To listen to the conversation about brat boards and the different combinations to of meats and toppings, click the player above.
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