The British are coming…with bangers and rashers

Nick and Connie Spencer talk with customers

Though he has not been around since 1776, Nicholas (Nick)  Spencer, a Brit, has come to Wicker Park's Farmers Market and brought bangers and rashers as well as his wife Connie, a Chicagoan.  Spencer's table with the giant British flag is hard to miss at the south end of the vendors' row.  You'll see a slight haze as they are grilling their meats in preparation for "knocking up" a sandwich.

While cookbooks of British cooking may be thin, the Brits do really well with things like fish and chips (battered and fried fish and fried potatoes) , toad in the hole (sausage baked in dough), bubble and squeak (fried leftover potatoes and Brussels sprouts) , bangers and rashers (sausage and bacon). Some might say that the Brits are into substantial food.  Spencer's is selling frozen product and grilled sandwiches which are quite tasty.

Full Monty Sandwich warms next to three bangers

One customer caught chomping on a two rasher sandwich said, "I would never have thought this was bacon based on the look and thickness.  It does have the taste of bacon. It's good!"  Another who was devouring an herbed banger commented, "it's soft and has a great flavor."  A couple who went for the Full Monty, one banger and two rashers, gave it a thumbs up.

Couple gives the Full Monty a thumbs up

All of the ingredients and processing for their products  are local, not imported.  The British/Irish bacon is thicker than American bacon and Spencer's uses pork loin versus belly, making it leaner. Their sausages, original and herbed, are made with finely ground high quality meat. "There is no gristle or nasty things in our sausages.  They are soft, squidgy not chewy because of the fineness of the chopping and the fact that there is less than 5% bread crumbs which absorb a lot of the flavors," explains Nick.

With herbs from Wisconsin, the original bangers include salt, nutmeg, ginger  and white pepper  while the herbed ones include salt, sage, thyme, parsley  and white pepper. "Brits do not like a lot of salt," explains Nick, "so, the salt is minimal."

A former consultant for Ernst and Young in London then New York, who was trained as an architect, Nick met Connie in 2004. After he moved to New York she joined him. They married and decided that they wanted to move to Chicago. Believing that there are not only a lot of Brits here but others who like this type of  British food, they moved to Chicago and incorporated Spencer's in September 2009.

Their first big show was the Chicago Bacon Fest which started on April 10, 2010 a day before their first anniversary. Connie concedes that it was "ok" and Nick expresses that he appreciates the fact that she was a good sport.  You can meet them yourself at the Sunday Wicker Park Market and the Saturday Lincoln Park Market.

Come back to this article and leave a comment after you have some of their tasty offerings at the market or at home.