Sweet reward for Grandy, N.C., restaurant

GRANDY, N.C.

German master butcher Frank Meusel placed pig livers and spices into a machine called the buffalo chopper, one of the first steps toward making liverwurst at Weeping Radish Farm Brewery.

In seconds, the buffalo chopper churned the liver into a puree that looked like chocolate pudding.

Working at a stainless steel table, Meusel deftly sliced from the cheeks of a hog's head.

Other than the liver itself, this is best part for liverwurst, Meusel said in German. Translator Maria Griffin interpreted for the small group gathered in the Weeping Radish butchery.

On a separate table was a bowl of peeled and cooked sweet potatoes, the ingredient that helped this recipe win awards. Authentic German liverwurst is not supposed to come out of Currituck County.

"I wanted an ingredient that was local," said Uli Bennewitz, owner of the Weeping Radish, located just south of Grandy. "Sweet potatoes were the best representative of it."

Weeping Radish sweet potato liverwurst has already won an award from the Bavarian Master Butcher's Guild and now is a finalist for the Good Food Awards, a national contest held in San Francisco with hundreds of recipes competing.

German master butcher Gunther Kuhle came up with the recipe for Bennewitz, and he is the reason the Bavarian Master Butchers Guild accepted an entry from the United States.

One of 25 finalists, the sweet potato liverwurst is the only entry from North Carolina in the charcuterie category. Most entries come from restaurants. Winners will be announced on Jan. 14.

Among requirements is the product must be made with "environmental and social responsibility," and, of course, taste good, according to the Good Food Awards website.

The meat had to come from animals on a diet not supplemented with genetically modified ingredients.

Bennewitz buys hogs from a farm in Greenville officially recognized for raising livestock in a more humane environment, he said.

He buys from a farmer he knows personally as part of a statewide campaign asking consumers to buy at least 10 percent of their agriculture products locally.

Bennewitz uses organically grown vegetables and hormone-free animals for his butchery and restaurant.

Bennewitz, who manages 24,000 acres of farmland in three states, started a microbrewery 24 years ago in Manteo that became the Weeping Radish.

Four years ago, he opened the brewery and eco farm on 24 acres near Grandy, producing German-style beers and offering a small restaurant and butchery led by a German master butcher.

Sausages, bratwursts, hot dogs and sweet potato liverwurst are on the menu and for sale at the counter.

Muesel, who trained in Germany, has worked as a master butcher for more than 30 years and has been at the Weeping Radish for more than a year.

There are no artisan butchery schools in the United States, Bennewitz said. But use of master butchers has gained momentum in the West and is beginning to come East, he said. As far as he knows, Muesel is the only master butcher working full time in North Carolina.

"I'm convinced it will grow in the East," he said.

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com