Leena Eats, Gourmet Communication ... Food, Travel, Gastronomy

I was running some errands last night, and one of them required me to stop by Paulina Meat Market (3501 N. Lincoln, Chicago 60657) to pick up some beef jerky (from our top 25 list) for our night of gluttony that lay ahead. I have never been to this market, but heard many good things, so I was pretty excited. On the drive there, I was daydreaming about what it would be like, as I often do and I thought of a polish deli in the suburbs I used to frequent. The best part of each visit was that inevitably, a butcher would approach me with a sample of something delicious. Free food kicks ass. So I entered Paulina Meat Market expecting the best, and man, was I ever wrong. It was not the best. It was like a magical, wonderful Disneyland type place, with smoked andouille in place of Mickey Mouse. Literally, the second I entered the place, I was bitch slapped with scent of smoked meats, garlic and general goodness. I couldn?t stop smiling no matter how hard I tried. I had found my Mecca. Thank you, God. It was a small place, but food was everywhere, so I didn?t know where to start. After starting in one direction, stopping to go in another, only to stop in mid flight and go to a completely different place, I realized it looked like I was doing the Hustle. I finally decided to follow my nose to counter where all the smoky goodness seem to be. I had to hold on to a stick of pepperoni to regain my balance when I finally looked at their meat selection. Three kinds of smoked beef jerky. Honey pork and salami snack sticks. Salami chips. Smoked andouille. Hot and spicy salami. Hungarian salami. And Oh my god, tasso ham!!! I had not seen tasso ham since culinary when one of the teachers and greatest smoked meat maker I have ever known made it for our school caf?. That stuff got me more excited than Justin Timberlake in Speedo. Then a man behind the counter?let?s call him Walty D.?approached me with words of gold. ?Would you like to taste something good?? ?Yessssssss!? I sounded sort of whiny and thankful. It was annoying, but smoked meat just rubs me that way. The linguisa sausage sample Walty D handed me was nice and garlicky, and it totally got me in the mood for buying meat. I ended up getting smoked beef and teriyaki beef jerky, a honey pork stick and sliced Hungarian salami. I wanted more; hell, I hadn?t even bothered to look at the fresh meat selections or the rest of the store. I started feeling dizzy, and my mind starting telling me it was okay to part with most of my paycheck for the past two weeks, and my palms started sweating, and I just had to leave the place as soon as possible. It was too hard. I wanted, nay, NEEDED everything. It was best for all parties that I left when I did. But I shall return. ~LTG