One of the great things, probably the great thing, about a visit to Frankenmuth, Michigan, is the absolute glut of traditional, artisnal crafters with their individual shops lining the streets on each side. A lot of these aren’t simple tourist shops. Many have a long tradition of family values which began decades or even more than a century ago.
Kern’s Sausages is one of many examples of this kind of tradition. Begun in 1949 by Marcus and Esther Kern, the shop was owned by their sons Robert and Charles for a few decades until Charles’ sons Ron and Kevin took over as third-generation owners. This is no flash-in-the-pan tourist trap, but rather is a family-owned shop with a long value of tradition.
An aunt and uncle of mine live in Frankenmuth and bring meats and cheeses from Kern’s Sausages to family events. On certain days throughout the year, visits to their home will result in steak tartare from Kern’s showing up on snack trays for anyone to try. Kern’s makes a wide variety of products, and I think my family may have tried all of them at one time or another. Well, maybe not the blood-tongue sausage …
If you plan a visit to Frankenmuth, be sure to stop in to Kern’s for some good old-fashioned meat. You’ll never again wonder why the commercial stuff just doesn’t measure up to real tradition.
Ahh the beer and the sausage, Frankenmuth brings back many memories as a Michigander. I’ve never heard of Kerns, but I looked into it more and this is an awesome tip, next time I’m up there I’ll be sure to check it out!