Whenever I travel to Germany and have the chance to eat German sausages, I take that chance. Sausages have a long tradition and today about 1,500 sausage varieties are produced in Germany. The German newspaper Die Zeit posted a great picture several years ago, showing an abundance of regional sausage varieties. Quite overwhelming, but I am here to help and guide you to the best German sausages, at least the ones I enjoy the most.
#1. Bockwurst
The Bockwurst originated in Berlin, but is known all over Germany nowadays. The inventors were the Berlin innkeeper Robert Scholtz and his butcher, Benjamin Löwenthal. Back in 1889, Robert Scholz served bock beer (stronger, malty taste beer) together with a coarse crackling sausage, consisting only of veal and beef. The pairing with the bock beer gave the Bockwurst its name. Today, you can find Bockwurst at many pubs, served with mustard and a bread roll (pictured above). Also, it is served warm, either out of a pot with hot water or heated in a microwave. I prefer the water method, just make sure not to boil them, otherwise they will crack.
#2. Frankfurter Würstchen
Frankfurter sausages, often abbreviated to simply Frankfurter, can only be produced by butcher shops in the greater Frankfurt area and has an actual trademark dispute dating back to 1929. A butcher in Berlin, who made and sold “Frankfurter Würstchen”, was sued by 13 butchers in Frankfurt and lost the lawsuit. If you are in the Frankfurt area, these sausages are a must. Very mild, go great with ketchup or mustard and most comparable to an American “hot dog” sausage. By the way: their close twin brother, the Wiener Würstchen, is made with pork and beef, while Frankfurters are made exclusively from pork.
#3. Frankfurter Rindswurst
And while we talk about my former homeland, we have to talk about the Frankfurter Rindswurst, also. This sausage was and still is produced by the well-known butcher shop of Gref-Völsing in Frankfurt.
Dieses Foto von Gref-Völsings Rindswurst wurde von TripAdvisor zur Verfügung gestellt
The shop of Karl Gref and his wife Wilhelmine Völsing first opened on January 18, 1894. Back then, in order to win over jewish customers, Gref-Völsing offered 100% beef (German word is Rind) sausages, which corresponds with the Jewish food laws and can be eaten as kosher. The Frankfurter Rindswurst is usually heated in a pot with hot water, or occasionally grilled. My favorite way to eat them is cut up in thick lentil soup, the way my grandmother used to prepare them.
#4. Weisswurst
The name Weisswurst translates to white sausage and is most common in the Bavarian state capital Munich, but also in other parts of Bavaria. According to legend, the Weisswurst was created by the innkeeper Joseph Moser on February 22, 1857, when he wanted to produce veal sausages, but realized that he ran out of veal casings. Since his guests had already ordered the first sausages, he quickly filled the veal meat into thicker swine casing. Instead of roasting them, he heated them in hot water, fearing that the casings would burst when roasted. The guests loved the new preparation method, especially since the Weisswurst had to be made fresh every morning, due to the lack of refrigerators or freezers. And even though we have all the cooling and preservation methods known to mankind today, the Weisswurst is traditionally still eaten before the clock strikes noon. Old habits die hard. Try yours with a pretzel, sweet mustard and a beer.
#5. Bratwurst
The bratwurst is the most iconic and well known German sausage, often sold as “brats” in the United States. You will find the Bratwurst sold during German summer festivals, as well as on Christmas markets in the wintertime. The name Bratwurst derives from the German word Brät, which translates to finely chopped meat with the main ingredient being pork. Traditionally Bratwurst is grilled over a wood fire or electric grills, giving it nice marks on the outside and making it the perfect to-go food in a bread roll or with some curry ketchup on top. This would also be my favorite kind of Bratwurst, called Currywurst. We already wrote about it here.
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Photo Credits
Shared Through https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
#1: Bockwurst Photo by: Flickr User pure man meat
#2: Frankfurter Würstchen Photo by: Jessica Spengler Flickr User wordridden
#3: Frankfurter Rindswurst from Gref-Völsing in Frankfurt Photo via Trip Advisor
#4: Weisswurst & #5 Bratwurst Photos by Flickr User cyclonebill
