Brandon Lang has brought a slice of Germany to Liebig Street with his recently opened Crackling Smallgoods.
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The delicatessen specialises in traditional old-style smallgoods and stocks a huge range of German-inspired smoked meats including kabana, prosciutto, strasbourg and sausages and everything in store is gluten-free except for the black pudding.
"Our top sellers have been the lamb chilli garlic butter kabana and the jalapeno kabana," Mr Lang said.
"People in Warrnambool love chilli.
"My favourite for a barbeque is the German weisswurst or the jalapeno cheese kabana cooled"
Crackling Smallgoods opened on December 9 and has been the dream of Mr Lang's for some time.
Originally from Horsham, Mr Lang began butchering at 18 and a meeting with a fellow butcher at the age of 21 changed his complete approach to his craft.
"I met a German smallgoods master called Ralph," he said.
"He shared his knowledge in creating meats targeting unique palettes. He opened his own shop and I went there to work for him.
"Opening my own store had been on the cards for the past five years and I came close a couple of times but lost out to big corporations. I found this place and I went from there."
The German techniques to produce the fine, flavoursome meat are delicate, precise and take plenty of time.
"I work to a German efficiency timeline meaning when the pigs come in I divide the meat up straight away," Mr Lang said.
"The quicker means the fresher the product.
"The shoulders for sausages, middle for bacon and legs for prosciutto.
"I add all the spices myself.
"This style of meat was around a lot in the 1980s when the Italians would hang their prosciutto from the roof. But the rules were altered and they weren't allowed to do that anymore so a lot of places closed.
"There are extremely strict rules about the weight of the meat, how long we cook and smoke it and the changing weights throughout the stages. There's a lot of paperwork to do everyday."
Mr Lang and his parents, Dianne Harris and Ian Lang, moved to Warrnambool to open the Liebig Street store and have quickly connected with other south-west food producers and outlets.
"The new head chef of The Whalers came in and involved some of our meats on the menu and Raffety's has some of our lamb ham," Mr Lang said.
"The beef is from the Sambell family farm and is certified organic and our pigs come from Beachport."
To ready the store, Mr Lang completely gutted the inside of the building and restored the original sandstone walls and 100-year-old timber beams.
Fridges and rooms were rebuilt and his traditional ovens were installed with the help of south-west tradesman.
In future, Mr Lang hopes to have classes for people to learn his craft and stock cheeses and wines.
But for now, head into Crackling Smallgoods at 84 Liebig Street for everything from barbeque pork ribs, weisswursts, chilli and pepper jerkies, to a range of pates and bone broth and more.
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