FORGET about your posh delis and artisan cafes, a trip to Hela Continental Smallgoods is a real rustic adventure.
First off, you have to make an acute turn on the busy South Street and ascend a ramp so steep you need a team of sherpas to reach the crumbling summit.
At the top lies an archaic carpark with a few random shops – Hilton’s very own “Death Zone”.
In the corner is Hela Continental Smallgoods, its vintage sign catching the afternoon sun like a German pensioner on the beach.
The shop’s giant glass door was plastered with various warning stickers including ‘Don’t push or pull, slide gently’ and ‘Maximum four customers at a time’.
I proceeded with caution and emerged in a tiny shop with a butcher’s counter and a few wooden shelves with smallgoods.
It was a meaty grotto – a sort of living hell for Tash Peterson – with a huge phalanx of German bangers and smoked meats.
The shelves were crammed with small goods and there was everything from German mustard to huge jars of sauerkraut. But I was there for the sausage.
After a brief pause, a lady emerged from the rear of the store.
She was super friendly and polite, and ushered me over to the bulging snags.
I plumped for some traditional bratwurst ($20.95/kg), debreziner ($25.95/kg), kranski ($25/kg) and a tray of Leberkase ($13.50) a sort of premium spam made from finely-ground pork that is popular in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Austria.
Back home, I whacked the lot in the oven for dinner (the Leberkase took about 45 minutes at 170C) and put the smoked sausages in at the end to crisp up the skins.
The pick of the bunch were the traditional bratwurst, which had a delicious combination of pork, beef, garlic and marjoram, a herb from the mint family.
The snag had a complex flavour that held your interest to the final mouthful.
Super tasty with high quality meat, these were a joy to eat.
Coming in a close second were the debreziner, which were lightly smoked and had a bit of heat courtesy of the chilli.
The kranski had a nice smoky refrain that wasn’t overpowering, but I regretted my decision to heat them up and should have just had it sliced cold with some nice cheese.
The Leberkase didn’t look that appetising when I removed the lid and popped it in the oven (it was pinky-grey and looked a bit like Polyfilla) but it soon fluffed up into a pork loaf.
I’ve never tried Leberkase before, so I can’t say if it was authentic, but it had the taste and texture of a hot dog.
It’s often eaten in a sandwich or in a hard wheat flour roll, so that makes sense.
Since Elmar’s on North Lake Road in Myaree closed down last year, I’ve been having bratwurst withdrawal symptoms.
Thankfully a Chook reader on our Facebook page alerted me to the family-owned Hela, which despite being in Hilton for 39 years, had somehow flown under my radar.
It’s now my go-to for German snags and definately worth a visit.
Just make sure your brakes are in good working order for that car park ramp, or it could be “Auf wiedersehen, Pet”.
by STEPHEN POLLOCK
Hela Continental German
Smallgoods
290 South Street, Hilton
facebook.com/HelaGermanButcher