Thursday, February 5, 2015

Thompson’s General Store

Elaine and I finally got around to visiting a store we heard about some years ago: Thompson’s General Store, in Camargo, Illinois. It’s a small store, with main staples, some household goods, beer and wine, and a meat counter. We went for the meat, having heard that it was good. It is really, really good. Jack Thompson weighed out hamburger (which he grinds himself), pork chops, a ham hock (one of us makes soup), and a few slices of liverwurst. Meat-eaters within driving distance would do well to visit Thompson’s General Store.

From 2011, here is one fortunate traveler’s photo tour of the store. And here is my photograph of a vanishing reality:


[Liverwurst, sliced to order. I cannot remember when I last got to see someone write a price on butcher paper. Bliss.]

comments: 5

The Crow said...

Please, please describe the liverwurst.

Michael Leddy said...

LOL. It’s pretty mild, milder than I would expect. It’s an elegant liverwurst, I guess, made by Heinkel’s in nearby Decatur. I will buy it again, for sure.

Slywy said...

Ooooh, writing on butcher paper. Brings back memories. My dad also got suet at the butcher's for the birds — if I recall right, most of the time they gave it to him for the asking.

The Crow said...

Your post set me to thinking about - and salivating for - liverwurst. I stopped at the best deli in town to see what they had and bought a few slices. So disappointed! The liverwurst was slightly bitter, which suggests the liver was from a geriatric cow. But, with a good slathering of German mustard and an excellent kosher dill, I finished a couple of slices. No beer this time, though.

Now I've added 'find the perfect liverwurst' to my ever expanding bucket list.

Glad yours was elegant, an odd choice of words to describe finely ground organ meat in a less than natural casing. Unless...?! Did yours come bound with the veil fat from around the kidneys?! (Finally remembered what that was.)

Wait! If so, don't tell me. I don't think I could bear the envy.

Michael Leddy said...

Diane, there’s free suet in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I don’t know how I remembered that.

Martha, no, just a plastic casing. I don’t think I could bear the veiled fat. : )