Haute Dogs: seven of the best sausages in the city

Haute Dogs: seven of the best sausages in the city

Innovative butchers are digging up old family recipes and mixing exotic meats with offbeat flavourings. Here, the city’s best sausages

At Meating on Queen, Jorge Plaza Sr. uses his mom’s recipe for hot Ecuadorean sausage—a fiery blend of pork, beef, sweet peppers, roasted onions, garlic, cilantro and secret spices. 1160 Queen St. E., 416-461-7500.

Olliffe mixes ground Ontario lamb from a Bruce County farm with piquant stilton and fresh mint. 1097 Yonge St., 416-928-0296.

Cumbrae’s lean, gamy pheasant sausage is balanced with fatty Berkshire pork. Rosemary adds a piney perfume, honey lends sweetness, and a chicken demi-glace sauces it from the inside. 481 Church St., 416-923-5600; 1636 Bayview Ave., 416-485-5620.

Peter Sanagan of Sanagan’s Meat Locker combines Perth County wild boar with roasted pistachios and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo red wine. 206 Baldwin St., 416-593-9747.

Butcher Johnny Di Benedetto of Di Liso’s Fine Meats uses his family’s 80-year-old barese recipe from the Apulian town of Bari. Ground beef, veal, lamb and pork are blended with mozzarella, parmesan, parsley and garlic, then stuffed into natural lamb casings. St. Lawrence Market, 91–93 Front St. E., 416-601-9780.

An ode to the original hot dog from Denmark, The Healthy Butcher’s pølser is made from double-ground organic pork and spices. Its red hue comes from beet juice. 565 Queen St. W., 416-674-2642.

At Medium Rare, duck legs are blended with vermouth-soaked dried cherries, roasted red peppers and fennel seed. 5241 Dundas St. W., 416-231-1500.

(Image: Meating on Queen’s spicy sausages, by John Cullen)