Meet the Maker: Smoking Goose

Smoking Goose

Name: Chris Eley
Company: Smoking Goose

What do you sell? Slow cured and smoked meats, salumi, and sausages: all made by hand in small batches

When did you start your business?  Based on the recipes and relationships with farmers that we developed at our whole-animal butcher shop starting in 2007, we then opened Smoking Goose in 2011. 

Website SmokingGoose.com
Social Media instagram @smokinggoosemeatery, twitter @smokinggoose, facebook @smokinggoose

From our downtown Indy meat locker, Smoking Goose uses old world craft and new world flavor for over 40 varieties of slow cured and smoked meats, salumi, and sausages. Indy natives and high school sweethearts Chris and Mollie Eley developed recipes and relationships behind the counter of their whole-animal butcher shop, Goose the Market, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2017 -- thank you, Indy! These recipes and personal relationships with farmers are the foundation of Smoking Goose, the USDA-inspected meatery that Chris and Mollie Eley in 2011. As a wholesale, nose-to-tail butchery and smokehouse, Smoking Goose's recipes always begin on the farm. Mollie and Chris work with small, family farmers in Indiana and neighboring states who raise their animals as nature intended. Today, chefs and market managers in 46 states stock Smoking Goose meat treats on their shelves and on their menus. When we shop at Market District, there's a real sense of pride when we see our products on their shelves. It's an honor to get to be part of their work bringing good, clean, and fair food to our tables.

Breakfast, lunch or dinner - If you could pick only one - which would it be and what would you eat?  As a chef in Chicago, I used to go for a heavy breakfast or a big lunch. Working nights, they were my main meals of the day. But now, I look forward to dinner the most. It's probably the meal I like preparing the most, too. What's the old saying? Hunger is the best sauce? With busy days eating up time for breakfast and lunch, I always look forward to cooking dinner. 

Sweet or Savory? That's another thing that's changed over time. As a kid, I wasn't into sweets, and so as an adult, I never really ordered dessert. Lately the sweets have been sneaking up on me though. My wife Mollie and I have two kids, and their ice cream and treats are tempting me more than before.

What is your go-to picnic dish or carry in dish? It's no surprise that a great selection of charcuterie and paired cheeses is my staple for picnics and eating on the road. But I also love a composed, cold salad. Marinated vegetables and grilled and chilled vegetables pack well for picnics, and it's a tasty way to take advantage of the best of the season. Toss those veg with slices of our smoked sausages, and it's a fast full meal on the road or in the kitchen.

Find this maker’s product at the Carmel Market District!