If you listen closely at Morscher’s Pork Store, you’ll hear bits of German, Polish, Romanian, and Yugoslavian spoken.
The seasoned staff seem hidden behind countless homemade weisswurst, bratwurst and krainerwurst suspended over the chest high counter.
Behind the staff only door, Herbie Morscher and store partner Seigfried “Siggy” Strahl plan for the day. Within moments of meeting them, both men crack bawdy jokes in true butcher style. But when Herbie and Siggy step in the back room to talk about their stainless steel equipment, they are all business.
One of Morsher’s prized possessions is a $50,000 Handtman stuffer, imported directly from Germany. This sausage making machine produces enough links in 20 minutes time as would take two men an hour and a half to do by hand. Other stainless steel machines (at about $40,000 a piece) handle grinding, emulsifying and smoking meat.
Herbie and Siggy invest heavily in German or Austrian equipment because as Siggy simply puts it – “those machines never break down.” Both men relish the challenge of keeping their homemade meat products fresh and authentic because Morscher’s is one of the last German butchers still operating in Ridgewood. When the family business first opened in 1957, Ridgewood was predominantly German with many German butchers competing for business.
Herbie knows the ethnic backgrounds of his regular customers. Over the years he’s learned key phrases and numbers in their languages to make them feel at home when in his store.
For Herbie, “serving the sizzle, not just the steak” is all in a days work.
Stop by on a Saturday and you’re likely to see Herbie behind the counter, charming his customers and proudly selling a steaming hot tray of Kaiser Franz Josef Fleisch which is rib belly with the skin on.
May 1, 2011
Profiles