Currywurst
Type | Bratwurst |
---|---|
Place of origin | Germany |
Created by | Herta Heuwer |
Invented | c. 1949 |
Serving temperature | Hot |
Main ingredients | Pork sausage, curry ketchup |
Currywurst (German: [ˈkœʁiˌvʊɐ̯st] ⓘ[1]) is a fast food dish of German origin consisting of steamed, fried sausage, usually pork (German: Bratwurst), typically cut into bite-sized chunks and seasoned with curry ketchup, a sauce based on spiced ketchup or tomato paste topped with curry powder, or a ready-made ketchup seasoned with curry and other spices. The dish is often served with french fries.
History
The invention of currywurst is attributed to Herta Heuwer in Berlin in 1949, after she obtained ketchup, or possibly Worcestershire sauce, and curry powder from British soldiers in Germany.[2] She mixed these ingredients with other spices and poured it over grilled pork sausage. Heuwer started selling the cheap but filling snack at a street stand in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, where it became popular with construction workers rebuilding the devastated city.[3]
She patented her sauce under the name "Chillup" in 1951.[3] At its height the stand was selling 10,000 servings per week.[4] She later opened a small restaurant which operated until 1974.[5] On 30 June 2013 Heuwer's 100th birthday was celebrated with a Google Doodle.[6]
Today, currywurst is often sold as a
Common variations include the addition of
]The Deutsches Currywurst Museum estimated that 800 million currywursts are eaten every year in Germany, with 70 million in Berlin alone.[9][10][11][12] The Volkswagen plant at Wolfsburg runs its own butchery producing about 7 million Volkswagen currywursts per year, serving many directly to Volkswagen employees.[13][14]
In popular culture
Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is a noted fan of currywurst.[15] By tradition, every candidate for the mayor of Berlin is photographed at a currywurst stand.[16]
The song "Currywurst" on Herbert Grönemeyer's 1982 album Total Egal is a tribute to the snack.[17]
The 1993 novel
The Deutsches Currywurst Museum opened in Berlin in August 2009, commemorating the 60th anniversary of its creation.[4][12] Curator Martin Loewer said "No other national German dish inspires so much history and has so many well-known fans".[18] The museum received approximately 350,000 visitors annually. It permanently closed in December 2018.[19]
In 2019 Berlin State Mint issued a commemorative currywurst coin celebrating the 70 years since the savoury snack was first sold in Berlin by Herta Heuwer.Herta Heuwer: The roots of currywurst The silver alloy coin features two currywursts pierced with a wooden chip fork and poured with the sauce (coloured by print), and Herta Heuwer in the background (caption: 70 Jahre Currywurst). The other side of the coin shows the Brandenburg Gate (caption: Münze Berlin, 2019).[20][21]
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Served with bread
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Currywurst - served sliced
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A "Taxi Teller" is a plate of fries served with currywurst,tzatsiki.
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Currywurst as a supermarket-shelf product to prepare at home
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Plaque in Charlottenburg, Berlin, where Herta Heuwer is said to have invented the currywurst
See also
References
- ^ Duden, Curry. Accessed 2013-06-30
- ^ Slackman, Michael (26 January 2011). "A Favorite Dish Laden With Fat and Contradiction". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ a b Paterson, Tony (15 August 2009). "Spicy sausage that is worthy of a shrine in Berlin". The Independent. London. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
- ^ a b "Honoring the best of the Wurst of German Cuisine". Deutsche Welle. 15 August 2009.
- ^ Kessler, Roman (27 August 2009). "The Craze Over Currywurst". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "Herta Heuwer's 100th Birthday". www.google.com.
- ^ a b "Berlin 24/7: What's the currywurst cult all about? | DW | 03.09.2017". DW.COM.
- ^ "A Food Lover's Guide to Berlin". Condé Nast. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
- ^ "No, it's not like a hot dog and why some people just don't get it". Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ Horenburg, Berit (23 August 2002). "Hau wech". Motorrad. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
- ^ "Data and Facts" (PDF) (Press release). Deutsches Currywurst Museum. September 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
- ^ a b "10 Things We Learned at Berlin's Museum Dedicated to Currywurst". Condé Nast. 17 December 2014. Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
- ^ Radomsky, Stephan (19 February 2016). "VW verkauft mehr Würste als Autos (VW sells more sausages than cars)".
- ^ "Die Currywurst – das Originalteil wird 45! - Volkswagen inside". Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
- ^ "Sausage Museum Celebrates Berliners' Romance With Currywurst". Bloomberg. 13 August 2009.
- ^ Boyes, Roger (15 August 2009). "Berlin dedicates museum to street-corner snack of wurst cuisine". London: Times Online. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
- ^ Grönemeyer, Herbert. "Currywurst" (in German). groenemeyer.de. Archived from the original on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
- ^ "German cult sausage gets own museum". Reuters. 13 August 2009.
- ^ "The Currywurst Museum of Berlin is closed". currywurstmuseum.com. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ "A German mint has made a currywurst coin and online reaction has been mixed". Irish Independent. 15 January 2019.
- ^ "70 Jahre Currywurst - Staatliche Münze Berlin" (in German). Staatliche Münze Berlin. Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
Further reading
- Connelly, Michael Alan (18 December 2014). "20 Must-Try Street Foods Around the World". Fodor's. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
External links
- Berlin's obsession with currywurst—BBC News report
- Trying to perfect the recipe at home for BAOR veterans
- Currywurst Is the Secret Weapon—AEG Perfunkt video about a West Berlin cult snack shop
- NY Times Jan 26, 2011 - National Dish Comes Wrapped in Foreign Flavoring