BACON PHOTO BY ARYN HENNING NICHOLS

BELOW PHOTOS BY KRISTINE JEPSEN

polashek’s loCker O

BY KRISTINE JEPSEN

ne step in the door of Polashek’s Locker in Protivin, Iowa, and it hits you: the heady aroma of the curing process, a swirl of sugary salt, chased by woodsmoke. This is a business that knows beef, pork, and venison nose to tail – and how to put it on the table year-round, from brats to bacon to snack sticks…even ready-to-heat omelet patties, which were crowned the 2019 Grand Champion Innovative Pork Product by the Iowa Pork Processors Association. First, it’s pronounced “Pol-AH-shek’s,” emphasis second syllable, “but almost everyone gets it wrong the first time,” says Adam Polashek with a chuckle. He and his brother Cory grew up in the family business, founded in this very Czech hamlet by their parents, Paul and Judy, in 1983.

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206 W Water St, Decorah, IA Open 11AM-12AM Daily Kitchen Hrs: 11AM-10PM 563-382-5970 tbocks.com 24 01

Driftless Food Guide / 2019 . driftlessfood.com

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