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J.B.'s Polish Sausage With Comeback Sauce: Is The Secret Ingredient Jesus?

by Rosie Bryan
12/07/2007

If you have heard of J.B. the polish sausage man, then you most likely know about his famous comeback sauce.

James C. Brown, 57, has been cooking for over 40 years. He has been selling polish sausages topped with the sweet and tangy sauce on the corner of Pulaski and Washington Street for 12 years.

Brown has been called “the king” when it comes to downtown Athens frankfurter cuisine. He is a step above all the rest, in a league of his own.

It is his comeback sauce that sets him apart from the other downtown vendors.

Louise McClelland, from Mobile, Ala., is a frequent customer to Brown’s stand.

“I like to get my polish sausage all the way,” said McClelland, a 21-year-old early childhood education major. “The combination of onions, peppers and especially the comeback sauce is a melody in mouth.”

Brown came from a family of sharecroppers. He first learned about cooking by helping his parents run the back yard barbecue parlor they had on their farm, by cooking all kinds of meats, stews and sauces.

“That’s the way they made their living, by cooking for people,” said Brown, a native Athenian.

Brown suffered from a back injury while working at a poultry plant in 1979. After the incident he said it was hard to find a job because no one would hire him. He needed employment because he was supporting his family of three children alone. Finally he got fed up with his situation and took action.

“I went back to my roots,” said Brown. “If I can’t get me no job, I’m gonna go back and do some of the things that my father taught me to do.”

The delectable combination of polish sausage and special sauce happened by chance for Brown.

Brown was hosting one of his weekly “disco parties," where he would sell the food he cooked at his home to his friends every weekend.

He was at the store getting ingredients and saw some polish sausages. He bought four packages and decided to try grilling them instead of hot dogs.

Brown served the bratwursts with just ketchup and mustard. The polish sausages did not sell as well as he wanted. He only sold one pack that night.

The next week came and Brown still had three packages of polish sausages. So he figured he needed to spice up the dish somehow for his party.

“When I grill them up, mustard and ketchup didn’t go good with them,” said Brown. “So I said to myself, ‘I need to get into the kitchen.’ And when I got in the kitchen, man, I got to putting spices together and I came up with a good sauce to go with my polish sausages.”

It was his youngest daughter Tiffany Brown, currently 26, who first tasted J.B.’s now renowned sauce. She was 10 years old and couldn’t get enough of the delicious polish sausages.

That night, Brown had his weekend party and topped the bratwursts with this sauce and all the sudden people wanted more of the polish sausages.

Stanton Means, from Charleston, W.Va., works in the non-profit industry, but hot dogs are his hobby. He is the author of a popular online blog that is completely dedicated to frankfurters and is considered and expert on the food by people in his community.

“It’s all about the topping,” said Means, 47. “No matter where you go in the world the sauce is what it’s about.”

Brown said people would drive for miles to get some of his sauce. Brown faced an obstacle when he tried to make the popular sauce for the second time.

His daughter Tiffany tasted it and let Brown know that it was not the same sauce she tasted the first time. Brown could not remember what he put in the sauce.

“I went to bed and I prayed about it,” said Brown. “I asked the Lord to show me what did I put in that sauce. I got up the next morning and I made that sauce and my daughter came in and said, ‘Hey daddy, that’s it.’ And I been making it the same way ever since.”

Brown said he knew that the Lord was blessing him with this sauce. Several friends told him that he needed to stop giving his sauce away because he could make money.

“I realized what I had, so I started selling my sauce,” he said.

He decided to take his business to the downtown Athens scene, selling the sausages at $4 a pop, to see how his product would do.

Brown said people downtown would come up and ask for a polish sausage and when he would start to put the sauce on it they, women especially, would say that they didn’t want that stuff on it.

“I would say do me a favor, I’m gonna put a little bit on it, stick your finger in it and if you don’t like it I’ll give you the polish sausage,” said Brown.

It proved to be a good strategy for Brown because after they tasted the sauce they loved it and always asked for more.

“That’s how I build my clientele, they come back,” said Brown.

McClelland, a junior at UGA, said Brown’s warm, delicious sauce and friendly, jovial attitude is what keeps her coming back for more.

“He is always excited to see you,” said McClelland.

When asked to describe how his comeback sauce tastes, Brown said, “It has just a little tingle taste to it, a sweet tingly taste.”

Hot dog expert Means said a great topping must have the right combination of spicy, sweet and tart.

Brown sent his youngest daughter, Tiffany, to school so she can learn how to help him incorporate his sauce. The sauce is currently at the University of Georgia’s Department of Food and Nutrition’s laboratory, where they are determining the sauce’s Nutrition Facts.

Brown and his daughter are also working on a web site where the sauce will be sold and they are looking to purchase a kitchen so Brown can extend his business.

For those worried that the commercialization of J.B.’s comeback sauce will keep him away from his regular corner, there is no need to fret.

“I am forever gonna keep my corner,” said Brown.

Brown loves his job. He said that the sauce has brought him good business, has made him recognize his blessings and has made him thankful for his parents and the skills that they taught him growing up.

“People respect me for what I do,” said Brown. “I love what I do. I take pride in what I do.”