Why isn’t the bratwurst actually called grilled sausage? Thi is not atranslation of the german words from this article. It is more the question to me what status bratwurst has outside Germany. It seems to ma that burgers in the US are much more widespread than bratwurst. But what in Europe, UK or elsewhere?
If you ask people on the other side of the Atlantic about us Germans, beer, bratwurst and football will be high up in the answers. Grilled sausage, grilled sausage. Is that even worth an article? After all, every child knows how to prepare a grilled sausage in Germany.
Grilled Sausage
Why isn’t the bratwurst actually called grilled sausage? The name of the bratwurst comes from its contents. It is not about frying or grilling. Brät is the name of the meat mass that is stuffed into the cleaned casing.
It starts with a trusted butcher
A good starting point is your trusted butcher (MdV). Here you will find the quality that makes a good sausage. You can ask whether you can get all types of sausage here. Some butchers also produce smaller quantities of sausage.
Let’s assume a standard grilled sausage that your butcher has packaged. Fresh sausage is better, but you have to prepare it quickly and freshly. A packaged sausage, in a vacuum, where no air can get to it, will keep much longer. In summer, I usually keep 10-15 packaged sausages in the fridge to throw on the barbecue when needed.
Preparing the grilled sausage
After removing the packaging, I rinse the grill sausages clean to remove the jelly mixture and score them 3-4 times on 2 opposite sides. Now put the sausages on the grill and grill them at 2/3 heat from all sides (!) but first on the two scored sides until medium brown. The trick is to know your grill.
On a charcoal grill or a swivel grill you grill without a lid, you can see when the sausage is brown. On a gas barbecue with a lid, on the other hand, the saying “When the lid is on, the barbecue stops” applies. So you should open the lid as rarely as possible.
I like to brush the grilled side of the sausage with a marinade of malt beer and garlic oil or chilli oil. It’s not a must, but it’s worth trying.
Bring in the barbecue flavour
I usually also put a bowl of smoked meat in the gas grill. Make sure that it is already smoking when the sausage is put on the grill.
It comes with a roll, Swabian potato salad and mustard. The whole thing is topped off with a fresh cool beer.
Mustard
Now just add your own mustard. That’s all you need for a fun barbecue. Alternatively, you can try the old Bergisch mustard.
National Bratwurst Day
In the USA, National Bratwurst Day has been celebrated on 16 August since around 1999. There, bratwurst is actually called bratwurst or, in short, brats.
Types of bratwurst (excerpt, to be completed)
Chipolatas aux herbes
Southern French thin pork sausages with Mediterranean herbs. Sensationally delicious but still largely unknown here.
Chorizo
A Spanish sausage speciality that you can fry. I haven’t tried grilling it yet. It is made of pork and has lots of paprika and garlic. It is usually served raw or fried and deglazed in red wine as tapas. -> Recipe Chorizo in red wine
Currywurst
A distinction should be made between the Berlin currywurst, which consists of an uncut boiled sausage with curry sauce, and the cut bratwurst or grilled sausage with curry sauce, which is common in the Rhineland. Recipe for Currywurst. Click here for curry sausage sauce and here for hot curry sauce.
Debrecziner
These are spicy boiled sausages from Austria and Hungary that are usually boiled. They can also be grilled or fried.
Frisian Bratwurst
was served at our MdV. Tasty and quite alright, somewhat similar to Thuringian, but less spiced and thinner. Nothing spectacular.
Fresh bratwurst
While most bratwursts are pre-cooked, fresh bratwurst is made from seasoned minced meat. It is better suited for frying than grilling.
Zizies mit Mostered und Ölischzaus
Coarse veal sausage
Coarse beef sausage
Veal sausage
Krakow sausage
A Polish sausage whose contents are coarser. Krakauer is available not only grilled but also steamed. Quite famous in Germany
Krakauer im Brötchen mit Kartoffelsalat
Merguez
A spicy lamb and beef sausage from the Mahgreb with spices such as cumin, paprika and garlic.
Nuremberger Rostbratwurst
The small fine one, often as a quick starter starter at the barbecue or for the children. It goes very well with sauerkraut.
Grilled sausage
The classic, here too there are many variations that vary from place of origin to place of origin. In the course of time, the list will continue to fill up. Rostbratwurst follows.
Simply stick small rosemary needles into the incised sausage. An interesting alternative.
Also very tasty with coleslaw and roll: Bratwurst coleslaw roll.
Wrap with bratwurst, the sausage with accompaniment in the casing.
Red sausage
A boiled sausage known almost exclusively in Swabian, which is grilled. It consists of sausage meat and spices and is a classic at folk festivals, in beer gardens and at the VFB Stuttgart stadium.
Thuringian Rostbratwurst
This sausage with caraway seeds was first mentioned in a document on 20 January 1404. As the name suggests, it must come from Thuringia, which does not apply to Rostbratwurst Thüringer Art, and be at least 15 cm long.
Salsiccia
This fine Italian sausage with a hint of fennel is still a rare exotic on our grill plates.
Recipe
Wild boar sausage
Recently discovered at our MdV. Tastes very good. Somewhat coarser inside with a slight taste of caraway and juniper. Highly recommended when available.
With the bratwurst I recommend:
Potato salad and homemade mustard.
Please send questions and suggestions to: wirtz@lecker-wirtz.de
I hope you enjoy the cooking!
#leckerwirtz #leckerwirds #grillort #meinkochplatz #grillwurst #bratwurst #thüringer #krakauer #rotewurst #rostbratwurst #salsiccia #chipolatas #chipolatasauxherbes #merguez #thüringerbratwurst #debriciner #currywurst #nürnberger #nürnbergerrostbratwurst #chorizo #nationalbratwurstday #bratwurstday #brats
Grillwurst – dazu gibt’s ein Brötchen und Kartoffelsalat