Gazzolo's: German Food

Judy's mother, Doris Kenison, recently passed away. She was originally from Pforzheim, Germany and emigrated to the United States following World War II when she was in her twenties. Doris retained her German accent and her love for Germany, including the food and anything made there. One of the best things we have done as a family was take a tour of Germany with Doris, seeing the places she lived and loved. When we were first married, Judy and I also had the privilege of living near Doris's mother, Judy's grandmother, Oma (Elise Frey). Between Oma and Doris we had a number of German meals, usually consisting, in part, of German potato salad, bratwurst, an occasional bockwurst, and meringue cookies. So as part of our Christmas festivities and memories this year we decided we wanted to have some German sausage. So I headed to Gazzolo's, located at 132 E. Highland Avenue in San Bernardino 92404.

Gazzolo's makes its own sausage and bills itself as the "best of the wurst."

I went with the intent of buying bratwurst and bockwurst, but decided to try a couple of different types of sausage I'd not had there before, for lunch, to see if we wanted to add them to our purchase list. I got the "Two are Better than One" meal which gave me the choice of two sausages. I got the kielbasa and Hungarian style sausages. The kielbasa is made of pork and beef, with some garlic. It is not as finely ground and is chunkier. I did not like it as well as the store bought kielbasa I've had. It was not as flavorful and juicy. The Hungarian style sausage has paprika in it and is a little sweeter and spicier. I liked it better than the kielbasa but decided I did not like it as well as the bratwurst and bockwurst.

A closeup of the kielbasa and Hungarian style sausages.

They had a Swedish potato sausage that they only make around Christmas time. It was quite a bit larger than the regular sausage.

The taste was very mild, the potato was very evident. It was fun to try but not something I would want on a regular basis.

Finally, I bought a bunch of what I went there originally for. The bratwurst is made out of pork and was already cooked. To warm it up, we just put it in simmering water for a while. The bratwurst is really large, so large that it is hard to eat on a bun. But it is perfect with German mustard. It was very good.

Then, best of all, was the bockwurst, made of ground veal. It is distinctively mild and has an absolutely wonderful taste. Below a platter of bockwurst and bratwurst. Following directions from Gazzolo's, I over-cooked my first batch and the sausages were split open and dry. Judy suggested I poke the raw sausage with a fork and cook them less. After that modification, they were wonderful. I can't eat too much of it without getting tired of it, but occasionally they are a wonderful treat.