These special sausages are coming up roses

ALL ABOUT FOOD

What do sausages and roses have in common besides the fact that they

both smell good? It’s more than you think for Steve Schreiner -- Rose

Man by day and Sausage Man on weekends. Each of his passions require

artistry, nurturing and endless hands-on attention.

Everyone in Laguna is familiar with the beautiful roses under his

care at Las Brisas on the bluffs of Heisler Park, and everyone who

frequents the farmers market is familiar with his beautiful sausages,

presided over by his daughter Nathalie.

The Schreiner sausage business has always been about family.

Around the turn of the century, Steve’s great-grandparents emigrated

from Germany to New York, where they started a butcher shop and

sausage business with recipes that they brought from the old country.

In 1934, his son Walter and his wife Maria struck out on their own,

succumbing to the lure of California’s enticing weather.

They opened their first store in Hollywood, featuring his

succulent handmade sausages. In 1956, they relocated to Glendale,

where the business expanded into a well-stocked European deli and

sausage factory. Eventually, Steve’s father took over the business,

and Grandma Maria, now 96, still comes to work every day and still

makes business decisions.

When Steve graduated from school, he put his plans to be a highway

patrol officer on hold while he made sausages, filling in for a

vacationing worker. Twenty years later, still stuffing casings, Steve

decided it was time to pursue his other passion, gardening. He moved

down south to the spot where he spent many memorable weekends as a

child. Steve’s father was a surfer and often brought the family to

vacation in Laguna. Here he established his landscaping business and

raised his family. Some years later, when he saw the rising

popularity of the farmer’s markets, he proposed the idea of selling

sausages there as a way of re-establishing his link to the business.

They now sell sausages at six different farmers markets, but Nathalie

says that the one in Laguna is unique.

“The people are more diverse and friendly but there are a lot

fewer people here who eat red meat,” she says.

Schreiners have been making chicken sausages since the

mid-nineties, created by Steve’s brother Wally but Laguna is the only

farmer’s market where you can buy them.

The current FDA limit for fat in sausages is 30% but Schreiner’s

have only 12% in the chicken and 20% in the meat. Though lower in

salt than commercial sausage, there is no sacrifice in flavor as they

are all wonderfully seasoned. Plus, they have that crispy crunch of

natural casing. The meat sausages range from franks and knockwurst to

Cajun chorizo and Portuguese linguica and there are usually five

different chicken varieties to choose from.