The Bockwurst

One of the early signs of spring in the Amana Colonies is the making of the Bockwurst at the Amana Meat Market. It is an award winning sausage that some refer to as Easter Sausage as it is only available during Lenten season up to Easter. 

Bockwurst is a German sausage first mentioned in 1827 in Bavaria area of Germany.  An urban legend in Berlin claims that it was invented in 1889 by restaurant owner R. Scholtz of Berlin. It is one of the most popular varieties of delicious sausages in Germany, a source of much national pride and now found in many areas of the USA. Traditionally made of finely ground pork, veal, spices, and love, the Bockwurst is unlike the Bratwurst in that it contains a higher ratio of veal in its recipe. There are many variations of it in Germany but usually served with the spring release of dark Bock beer.  So good...

Since 1856 Bockwurst has been made in the Amana Colonies using an award winning recipe that includes pork sausage, ground spices, and fresh green chives from garden beds. It is sold at the Amana Meat shop by the pound. 

A traditional family German Bockwurst recipe is as follows:

400 g pork butter, trimmed

100 g back fat

100 g pork belly

18 g kosher salt

6 g onion powder

3 g white pepper

2 g sweet paprika

.5 g ginger

1 g nutmeg

1g whole coriander

1 g celery seed

1 tsp lemon zest

1 egg

100 ml whole milk

Grind all the meats, add egg, milk, spices into a food processor 30 sec. Stuff meat into standard 28-32 mm hog casings forming 4" links. Refrigerate up to 3 days, freeze 3 months. 

This recipe is for 2.2 lbs or 7 links but you can easily scale to suit your needs. Recipe can be doubled. Guten Apetit and Brost!

photos by friends

THE WOOLEN MILL

The art of weaving fabric was an important part of the culture of the Inspirationists that came to Amana from Ebenezer (1844) and before that, Germany (1714).  The Amana Woolen Mill was one of the first and largest in Iowa,(1857). Their early weaving equipment was shipped to Ebenerzer , New York (1844) when they immigrated, then brought to Amana.(1855). The mills there and in Amana and Middle, employed many and was impressive in the business world. Some of the machinery was from Germany and devices invented by the workers went worldwide but they never patented them. Wool was purchased from other states, the best grades only such as those from Australia, Texas, and Colorado. Amana Society raised 3,000 sheep at this time too. The mill used one half million pounds of wool annually, washed, dyed, and dried in kilns. Orders for the USA government for army blankets kept communal era workers very busy. Canal water ran East to power the turbines that ran the mill looms and other machinery in the mill. Today it still powers some electricity. Lost entirely to fire in August 11, 1923, the Amana mill had much saved by lots of local help and eventually merged with the Middle mill. In 1998 it had its roof torn off by straight line winds, but recovered to become a successful business. I remember hearing the noon whistle from the watchtower, also the late night clicking of the cast iron looms, shuttles and harnesses quieted today by computerized systems and Swiss looms.
The Woolen Mill complex is in 2018-2020 undergoing renovation for a 65-room Hotel Millwright and convention center with a salesroom and working mill making current products. The design, branding, and theme of the new complex pay homage to the Millwright of the past who installed, dismantled, and moved machinery in the 160 year old Woolen Mill.