Piller's Offers Up Some Tips and Gourmet Pairings for Your Sausage Grilling this Summer

WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 11, 2015) - Summer is barbecue season in Canada, a time for friends, family and neighbors to gather on patios across the land to enjoy the outdoors, as well as sumptuous meals prepared on the country's millions of barbecues.

Nothing tastes better on the barbecue than authentic European, all pork sausages like Knackwurst, Grillwurst, or Bratwurst, of which Piller's Fine Foods offers a line made in Canada that is naturally smoked and free of gluten.

"Since these Piller's sausages are fully cooked, you only need to barbecue them over medium heat for a few minutes until lightly browned," advises corporate chef, Darryl Fletcher, widely known on TV as Chef D. He does not recommend scoring the sausages however, so that the succulent juices are retained by the natural sausage casings.

As well, the company offers traditional European Wieners that are free of lactose, and a Bratwurst sausage as part of the innovative Piller's Simply Free line that is free of gluten and all other major food allergens including milk, peanuts, tree nuts, mustard, sesame, egg, fish, soy and sulphites.

While sauerkraut and grainy mustard are classic sausage accompaniments, Chef D also recommends gourmet, homemade pairings for the barbecued sausages that will appeal to the sausage gourmand. His tasty toppings include warm carrot and onion slaw, celery root sauté, and roasted garlic aioli, and his specialty, a paprika glaze for sausage kebobs. Recipes are available at pillers.com.

There are also several ideal drink pairings that go best with the Piller's fully cooked sausages. Beer and sausage are a natural fit. Chef D suggests selecting a Golden Pilsner to go with Bratwurst and Grillwurst sausages, and a Pale Lager which pairs well with Knackwurst. For white wine, he advises that a Riesling with just a hint of sweetness pairs nicely, and for red wine, a Zinfandel.

In order to best utilize these pairings, know the difference between the types of sausages you choose. Bratwurst, which originates from southwest Germany, is made from coarsely ground pork seasoned with marjoram and butcher pepper. Knackwurst is a short, plump Frankfurter-style sausage made from finely chopped pork and well spiced with coriander and pepper.

Piller's European sausages are available at major grocery stores across Canada at a retail price of about $7.99.

About Piller's Fine Foods

Piller's Fine Foods is one of Canada's leading manufacturers of specialty European deli meats with more than 600 employees. Its corporate headquarters, production plant and distribution centre are located in Waterloo, Ontario, with operations in Brantford, Toronto and Arthur, ON.

It was founded in 1957 in Waterloo by Wilhelm Huber using family recipes, quality ingredients, and traditional European sausage-making methods. From those humble beginnings, Piller's has become one of North America's largest producers of European sausages and deli meats, famous for award-winning products such as Black Forest ham and air-dried salamis. To this day, after five generations of sausage makers, Piller's still uses the same natural aging, curing, and smoking process that had customers lining up outside Wilhelm Huber's butcher shop more than 50 years ago.