Photos by Cary Norton, Kelsey Freeman, and Graham Yelton

This story appears in Birmingham magazine's May 2016 Issue. Subscribe today!

When Vito Graffeo opened a grocery in Pratt City and started making sausage in 1906, it saved the Italian immigrant from toiling in the deadly coal mines nearby. His sons later ran a second store in Ensley, and their family-recipe sausage became a Christmas Eve tradition in the area's "Little Italy" community.

Now, a third generation runs Graffeo Brothers Italian Sausage, sponsor of the annual Feast of St. Mark Italian Festival at the Evangelist Catholic Church.

Locally-made sausages link Birmingham's past and present. They are expressions of family and cultural pride that help feed the city's obsession for quality Alabama products. Other Italian sausages made in town--by the Arnone and Tamburello families--also are based on recipes that span generations. Arnone's sausage--now made by descendants of Anthony Arnone, who perfected his father's recipe in the 1940s--is on menus at Rogue Tavern, Amore's, Delta Blues, and the Filling Station, among other restaurants.

Benard Tamburello uses his Italian sausage for dishes at Vecchia Pizzeria and Mercado in Hoover, but also sells frozen 21/2 pound coils for home cooks. Tamburello's aunt mixes the seasonings before he grinds the meat and stuffs the natural casings. "We control everything that goes into our sausage," he says. "There's no yeast extract, MSG, or fillers. It's just pork and spices."

Numerous chef-driven restaurants and a few groceries, like Whole Foods and Western, make sausage in-house. Louisiana natives Chris Zapalowski of Homewood Gourmet restaurant and Nick Morris of Cajun Cleaver market in Hoover helped introduce Birmingham to boudin, a Cajun sausage made with rice.

Home cooks can find fresh local sausages in butcher shops like Mr. P's in Bluff Park or Cajun Cleaver. Several brands are sold frozen at select Western and Piggly Wiggly stores.

Also search at popup farmers markets. Zapalowski, for example, makes andouille sausage for his restaurant but sells his boudin at Pepper Place.

D'Agostino's Sausage Empire products were at Pepper Place and the West Homewood markets last season, although owner Kyle D'Agostino expects to only sell at West Homewood this year.

He originally made fennel sausage for Trattoria Centrale, chorizo for El Barrio, and bratwurst for Brick and Tin, among other restaurants. Now D'Agostino sells retail-only, with a trimmed-down line of chorizo, bratwurst, and fennel sausage he helps make at a plant in Calhoun County.

The sausages fit Birmingham's eat-local ethos.

"Our tag line is all-Alabama all the time," says D'Agostino. "If it's not grown or made here, I buy from a vendor here. The money and taxes stay here. I believe that is important."

Sausage-making often is a byproduct of butchering--a way of using trimmings, scraps, and fat left after a hog is separated into hams, ribs, and other cuts.

Local producers are more selective, mainly using pork shoulder. D'Agostino makes sausage from whole hogs, hand-selected for each batch.

Italian and andouille sausage are familiar to consumers, but other styles have been a tougher sell. Originally when Zapalowski described boudin to first-timers, he was selective about listing the ingredients beyond pork and rice. "It's hard to hook them if you say, 'It's made with liver,'" he says. "But it's catching on. We sell 20-25 pounds a week now."

Zapalowski makes boudin in 30-pound batches, cooking pork shoulder with vegetables, rice, and pork liver until the meat falls apart and the rice absorbs the flavors. For a personal stamp, he grinds in poblano and jalapeno peppers. More cooked rice, this time not seasoned, helps balance flavors in the fully-cooked links.

"People traditionally steam boudin but I prefer it grilled over medium-low heat," he says. "I like the smoke and how it crisps the casing."

For many, making sausage is about honoring the past.

In the 1940s, Anthony Arnone sold sausage from a Midfield market that became a Piggly Wiggly. Public sales briefly ended before he died in 1997, but resumed in 2004 when his son and two sons-in-law felt the calling to bring it back to retail.

At each St. Mark's Italian Festival, three generations (connected by blood or marriage) work in the Arnone's booth. "It's a family affair," says Louis Carruba, one of the sons-in-law running the company.

While planning Vecchia, Tamburello knew his family's sausage would be crucial to the atmosphere. "We wanted it to be like gathering around grandmother's table to eat," he says. "This is our heritage."

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Sausage Recipes

Italian Sausage with Onions and Peppers

From Benard Tamburello

2 1/2 lb. coil of Tamburello Family Italian

Olive oil (approximately 2 Tbsp. in all)

2 onions, peeled and cut into strips

2 green bell peppers, cored, seeded, and

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large oven-safe skillet, add water to 1/4-inch deep. Place the frozen sausage in the skillet. Simmer over medium heat for 2 minutes; flip sausage and cook until thawed, about 2 minutes more. Add olive oil to the pan and continue simmering until liquid is almost evaporated. Place the pan with sausage in the oven until one side browns, then flip to brown the other side. Remove skillet from oven. Remove sausage from pan set aside to rest. Over medium heat, add a little more water and olive oil to the skillet, just enough to saute. Add onion and bell pepper and cook until soft. Add the sausage, mix with the vegetables and serve, either alone, in sandwiches, or in calzones.

Pasta with Italian sausage in cream sauce

From Graffeo Brothers Italian Sausage

1 lb. Graffeo Brothers sau

1 medium onion, peeled and

5 slices prosciutto, cut into pieces (optional)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

6 cups heavy cream

1 cup crushed tomatoes

1 lb. long pasta (spaghetti,

3 Tbsp. fresh basil, rolled and

Salt, to taste