Quaker Creek
Catskill Merino has been granted a 20-C license by NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets to make lamb sausage and lamb bacon in the kitchens of Quaker Creek, which happens to be about 2 miles, as the crow flies, from where the sheep graze.
We are proud to have the skilled guidance of proprietor and chef Robert "Bobby" Mateszewski in his kitchens. There, we will continue to make the Catskill Merino lamb sausages that you have come to enjoy; and we will make sausages from recipes that have made Quaker Creek renowned.
Bobby has followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, a garde manger chef who came from Poland to cook at the 1939 World's Fair but was stranded here by the outbreak of war. In 1947, the reunited family moved upstate to the Polish farming community that grew vegetables in the Black Dirt region. His grandfather opened a tavern and store that specialized in home processed meat on Pulaski Highway. Bobby was connected to the old world by family; but he grew up in the land of opportunity. Years later, at the Culinary Institute of America, he studied the old and new methods of fine charcuterie to become a garde manger himself. Below the store, he installed the finest kitchen equipment: he has Koch stainless-steel smokers controlled by micro-processors and he has a state-of-the-art sausage stuffer.
Quaker Creek is family run; Bobby's mother, wife and other family members help around the store. Quaker Creek is a local insitution too; as Bobby says, “I use the best quality ingredients, all available in this region. I get my herbs fresh from a grower right here in Pine Island, and mix the seasonings myself...like my grandfather, I am a gourmet; and what I do here at Quaker Creek is the fulfillment of his dream."
People travel from miles around for charcuterie made by Quaker Creek.
Here are three new sausages available at the stand in Union Square made from Quaker Creek recipes:
Cajun Andouille is a spicy lamb sausage made with onion and garlic that is smoked and ready to eat. Nitrate free. In a natural sheep casing.
Mexican Chorizo is a lamb sausage made in the traditional Mexican way with chilies and garlic. In a natural sheep casing.
Apple & Maple is a lamb breakfast sausage made with Granny Smith apples and New York maple syrup. In a natural sheep casing.