Brooklyn – by Devorah Paltiel, KT Feature Editor – There’s nothing more American than the good ole’ hot dog. Whether it’s topped with mustard, onions, sauerkraut or ketchup, it’s almost reached cult-status. But ask an American to differentiate between a hot dog and a sausage and you’ll probably get some vague answer about ingredients or a counter-question about them being one and the same. Ask a glatt-kosher eating American a decade ago and they too wouldn’t have had a clue. But since Jack’s Gourmet debuted their authentic handcrafted sausages in 2010, the kosher consumer is more educated than ever. Co-founded by Chef Jack Silberstein and Dr. Alan Broner, the company has grown from a small unknown to a leader in the kosher meat category. “Much of our success can be attributed to our philosophy that only the finest ingredients will produce the best-tasting products,” explains Silberstein, a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America. “What really differentiates our products from others is that we only use premium cuts of beef and poultry. It’s about quality and about consistency.” Jack’s Gourmet products are gluten-free, msg-free and do not contain any fillers.

“Our aim is also to educate our customers and teach them that sausage and deli products can be used as ingredients in other dishes, not simply as stand-alone dishes. Before our foray into the kosher market, glatt-kosher sausages didn’t exist,” says Silberstein. The company prides itself on R&D and innovation, using Kosherfest as its platform for unveiling new products each year. Jack’s Gourmet’s products can be found online (www.jacksgourmet.com) and in the deli aisle of kosher, specialty and mainstream supermarkets across the USA, including sausage varieties, deli items, facon, pulled brisket, and burgers. Their latest creation of ingenuity, Turkey Bacon, will grace supermarket shelves at the end of August.