The town of Elgin is known as the Sausage Capital of Texas. It also boasts the first – or one of the first, depending on who you ask – barbecue joints in Texas.
Of course, when in the neighborhood near Elgin, no barbecue tour would be complete without a stop at the home of Elgin sausage – Southside Market. Understanding the difference between the German-recipe (where black pepper and cayenne are the main spices) and the Czech-version (containing garlic) that are both popular in central Texas provides a glimpse into the history of the area.
William Moon began making German sausage in 1882. Moon would sell his butchered meats door-to-door, but what was left over at the end of the day had to be preserved or spoil. He made sausage out of course-ground beef with the traditional German recipe of spices including cayenne, salt, and black pepper, then stuffed in a pork casing. The sausage was smoked for preservation.
Moon opened his first brick and mortar store in 1886 in town, where folks riding on the train could grab a bite to eat during a water stop. The reputation of Elgin’s “hot guts” sausage spread far and wide.
Lee Wilson bought the business from Moon in 1908, where he continued to serve the Elgin community as the small-town butcher shop that sold BBQ in the back. Rumor tells that Wilson lost and won the restaurant many times over poker bets.
In 1968, the Bracewell’s bought Southside Market and began to sell the traditional Elgin Hot Guts Sausage to a small H. E. Butt Grocery Co. The legend of Elgin sausage began to grow. Southside Market moved to its current location in 1991, adding a pit room, kitchen, meat market, and meat plant.
Southside’s sausage has a delicious beef flavor with the perfect snap of the casing. The spices provide a great background for the beef flavor without overpowering. Just because the sausage is beef and not pork does not mean it is dry. In fact, the juices from Southside’s all-beef sausage run down to your elbow if you let them.
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