“It’s fermented, cured, delicious, and often misunderstood and mispronounced.”

So says Jesse Brookstein, author of A Perfect Pair: The History of Landjaeger in Green County, Wisconsin.

They may look like beef jerky, but Jesse’s referring to the pairs of smoked, fermented sausages that hang in many bars around southern Wisconsin. The high-protein snack enjoyed by Swiss and German immigrants of the past century has found fans among many thirsty bar-hoppers in Madison today. We’re revisiting our conversation from 2023 where Jesse tells us why this salty meat snack is showing up all over. (And yes, it’s LON-yay-grrr.)

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Jones Dairy Farm