It’s grilling season. Okay, it doesn’t really stop or start ever in the mild climate of the Pacific Northwest. But let’s say, summer lends itself to creating meals on the BBQ. And one of the most popular items to grill – maybe because you can hardly ruin them – are brats. No, not annoying, unruly children but the very English abbreviation for the German term Bratwürste (pronounce ‘bruht-vir-stah, meaning frying sausages), i.e., the plural of Bratwurst. Therefore, the rather German pronunciation.
Originally, the old Germanic term brato means “sheer meat”; only later, the term became associated with frying. Which also implies that a bratwurst contains a raw concoction. Sometimes, these sausages are also shortly scalded. The latter applies to one of Germany’s most popular sausages for the grilling season, the “red sausage” or “rote Wurst” (pronounce ’ro-tah voorst). When I say raw “concoction”, it means that there are also vegan options out there, of course, and the term wurst applies to the shape of a stuffed casing of natural or artificial material. You can take it from there – any meat mix in a casing, whether it has to be cooked, or fried, or grilled, or whether it can be eaten cold as is, is called a wurst. So, the term applies to the items from which cold cuts are sliced, as well.
There is probably no nation in this world that doesn’t have its own variety of sausage or wurst. In Germany, there are more than 1,500 different kinds of wurst, a world record. Apart from the bratwurst, there are also the categories of raw wurst (smoked or air-dried), boiled wurst, and cooked wurst (such as liverwurst or souse). The very first wurst is mentioned in 589 B.C. in China. My guess is that the invention of the sausage concept was simply a convenient way of keeping and storing scraps that otherwise would have gone bad. No waste, no want. This also explains the English term sausage. It derives from Latin salsica, meaning salted. The Old French turned this into saussiche, and “1066 and all that” apparently did the linguistic rest.
The history of international wurst/sausage dishes is international, as well, whether the cause is convenience, immigration, or wars. Let’s take the story of the hotdog. The original version was allegedly invented in Frankfurt/Main in Germany in 1847. Yet, it was German U.S.-immigrant Charles Feltman, apparently a baker by trade, who came up with the mobile fast-food concept in Coney Island in 1867. His hotdogs became that popular that he soon founded a brick-and-mortar restaurant in his cart’s stead, and many imitated the bun-and-sausage dish all across the nation. As many German butchers had dachshunds aka Wiener dogs (their body shape already suggesting that of a sausage) and dog meat allegedly made it into sausages as well, that is one of the sources for the dish’s name. Need is the mother of invention – if we find it appetizing or not. “Dog” is still a colloquialism for a specific kind of sausage over here.
Another very popular German sausage dish is the currywurst. It is ascribed to Herta Heuwer, who allegedly obtained some sauce (ketchup or Worcestershire sauce, which is not clear) and curry powder from British soldiers in occupied Berlin in 1949. Poured over a grilled and sliced pork sausage, it became such a beloved dish that you can actually buy bottled curry ketchup, these days. German actor and rockstar Herbert Grönemeyer even dedicated a song to the dish in a local Rhein-Ruhr dialect. Of course, you will find German wurst or bratwurst museums, too, celebrating the history of one of Germany’s most versatile food items.
Maybe it is due to the incredible number of wurst varieties that Germans also use the phrase “Das ist mir Wurscht” (pronounce duss ist meer voorsht, literally “It is sausage to me”), the German term being slightly demolished by a “sch”-combo instead of the mere “st”. It means that somebody couldn’t care less. Maybe, because there are so many options that one is as good as another. Or as bad. It probably depends on whether you like wurst or not.
And yet another fun, informative – and timely – read. Please keep ’em coming.
Thank you so very much, dear Raymond! What kind encouragement! I promise I will!
“It was the best of times, it was the Wurst of times…” Thanks to the Hess Deli in Lakewood, my supply of Bavarian mustard and Curry Ketchup is always available to make even the lowliest hotdog so much more awesome!
Ah, “A Tail of Two Cities” aka the beginning of the end of a dog 😉 Here I will end with my puns. Indeed, I LOVE their mustard, too. Especially the one they mix themselves!!!
Back in 1965 my late wife and I were in Vienna. Late at night after the Opera, we were walking back to our hotel and came upon a trailer vendor with Bratwürste. We both had one; one of the best I’ve ever had. I keep wanting to find something like it, but never have.
It’s because all the German kind of sausages are sold at delis whereas over in Europe it’s their normal. I have to admit, though, that we get some quite decent brats that are made over here, as well. You are right though, the really good ones are also sold only at deli counters, not by street vendors …