Suck, Cut or Peel
Breze (that’s Bayerish for pretzel) and beer
– are always companions to Weißwurst
Honestly, the title does not suggest that this next post has anything to do with how much Bavarians are so gaga for plastic surgery, we’ll save “Schönheits Chirurgie” for another day. It’s once again Carnival or Faschingszeit, where the Bavarians get freaky with costume balls, Krapfen and the beloved of all delicacies: Weißwurst (white sausage) breakfast with sweet mustard.
This year the residents of Munich will celebrate 150 years of Weißwurst eating tradition, where Weißwurst has been a strong component in the Bavarian meal culture. Hardly any other food can come up with so many rules and regulations for the proper handling and eating regimen as the Weißwurst.
Traditionally, the Weißwurst is prepared early in the morning and so it’s not supposed to be served past twelve o’clock. In the past, all had to abide by this rule. After all, the sausage is made of fresh calf meat and pig bacon. Depending on the recipe, the sausage meat is seasoned with parsley, lemon and other tasty spices. It doesn’t contain any preserving nitrates so without appropriate cooling it is easily perishable. But now a days we have modern cooling technology so the 12-noon rule is bendable. That being said, Bavarians love their traditions, so the Weißwurst must be eaten in the mornings, period.
Now a few “technical” facts:
- Weißwurst is about 12 cm long (about 4.7 inches long) and has a diameter of 28 to 32 mm (<1 inch in diameters) with a typical weight from 80 to 100 grams (2.8 oz to 3.5 oz.). One wurst is packed with 27.2 g of fat, 11 g of protein, 290 kcal of calories. The consistency of the sausage is fine, a bit loose and sticky.
- You’ll never find Weißwurst swimming alone in its little pot, rather it always shares the spotlight with pretzels and sweet mustard awaiting plate-side. The beverage of choice next to this breakfast of champions, is naturally wheat beer (Weißbier). That’s right, beer for breakfast! But most importantly the white sausage must be eaten without the casing. Here are the different techniques for proper “extraction”: they should be treated as rules rather than as guidelines (see box).
Hear ye, Hear ye! Weißwurst etiquette The proper Weißwurst eating etiquette is an art in itself. Here are the three most common methods:
All must yield to the “Queen of all Sausages” and her unwritten rules for consumption!Auszuzln (to suck out): Dipp the Weißwurst sufficiently into sweet mustard and then suck the contents out of the casing.
Schneiden (to cut): Cut the Weißwurst in the middle into two halves. Then stick a fork into one sausage half and slice the outer skin horizontally along the sausage from tip to end. If you are an expert, the skin can be taken off in one go with the fork still in the meat and the knife slipping the casing off.
Pellen (to peel): Cut the Weißwurst vertically into pieces, paying carefully attention not to completely cut through. The rest is child’s play, just peel the insides from the casing with the fork. rn
Last but not least, there is a long-held tradition for Weißwurst preparation and presentation. Weißwurst is not cooked nor is it roasted rather it is warmed in hot water (70 ° C / 158 ° F) for eight to ten minutes. Afterwards it is served with the same hot water in a Terrine – with a lid so it won’t cool too soon – and eaten warm. I heard a joke once that a waiter asked a foreigner how he liked the Weißwurst and the foreigner said, “The Weißwurst was tasty but the soup was a little bland.” Word to the wise, don’t drink the wurst water.
Apparently, it’s become a cool tradition to enjoy a Weißwurst breakfast after a night of clubbing Carnival style. I’m not sure if I’ll do that after Weiberfaschings, coming this Thursday but maybe this weekend. I like Weißwurst despite it’s awfully pale appearance and my inability to remove the skin in one smooth action. I’m a ‘pellen’ kind of gal and I’ve yet to see anyone use the ‘auszuzln’ technique. Perhaps that’s why I like it so, the challenge and the edible reward. Anyhoo Guten Appetit!
adapted from Rundschau
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Healthy Harzer Story
Tasty cheese with a health qualityThe longer I stay in Munich, the more exposure I get to European cheeses -much more than I ever did living in Florida. Alex and I recently discovered for ourselves a nifty cheese with a lot of potential:Harzer cheese, a German sour milk cheese made from low fat curd cheese, which contains only 0.5% fat and 30% protein, making it one of the healthiest cheeses in all of Cheesedom. It is a good source of Vitamin B as well. Just 100g of this cheese can deliver more than 1/3 of the recommended daily intake for Calcium including boocoos of essential amino acids. Despite these facts, this cheese has a bad reputation, conjuring images of sitting in a quite, musty room stuck in a 60/70s theme and all you hear is the wall clock ticking your life away.
The story of Harzer cheese is a simple one. It originated in the Harz mountain region south of Braunschweig. Once upon a time, some little Swiss Alpine mountain man decided to move to Germany. But before he did, he stuffed a sour milk cheese recipe in his Rucksack and tada!
Harzer cheese has several names actually. The most common name in our area is “Hand Cheese”, because in the past the little cheese rolls were formed by hand. So when it’s small and round, it’s then called Handkäse or Taler, or cylindrical, in which case it’s called Stangenkäse. Frequently, the small and round variety is sold in a cylindrical package, which is then called a Harzer Roller. To add to the confusion, this cheese could be called Mainzer Käse, Quargel, or Korbkäse depending on what part of Germany you are standing in.
The middle is still ripening.Harzer cheese is typically flavored with caraway. Some varieties are white mold cheeses (milder), others red mold cheeses (heartier). Both types develop a strong aroma after maturing for a few days or weeks. Harzer has a distinctive strong smell and flavor, which could be considered repulsive by some. The smell factor of Handkäse compares to other cheese assortments from France and Italy (for example, a pungent French Époisses de Bourgogne or an old Italian Taleggio). However, Handkäse also compares to German Silberberg Tilsiter, which is seemingly a milder and not so smelly a cheese. But don’t worry, in case it happened to be shoved against the back of the fridge somewhat forgotten, you’ll get an olfactory message soon enough.
Even though Harzer cheese may get overshadowed by the lively spirit of fresh French cheeses, the grand Italian Mozzarella, or a tasty Spanish Manchego, I’m pretty sure this cheese will still hold a place on my palette and health-o-meter. Reputations can change especially if we emphasize the better qualities, if anything this cheese should add years to one’s life. As for the stink, as long as it hasn’t turned to funk, I’m alright with this cheese.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever be a bonafide cheese snob compared to European standards because I still like Wisconsin (squeaky) cheese curds. But beer is another matter.
A new look
Tonight was Mexican night, at least I had a hankering for salt and cumin. Thanks to my family, Mexican night mimicked the stuff across the pond with a heavy dose of MSG in the Taco Bell Fajita seasoning. Oh heaven. Last weekend someone put stickers on our mailboxes that said, “Montag ist Reistag (Monday is rice day)” -some kind of advertisement for Uncle Ben’s. But oh contre! Monday is Mexican night. All the flour tortillas were sold out at the neighborhood store and the crunchy corn shells are only sold at the expensive department stores in the city center. Hey, No problemo. Now it’s nacho night.
Darn. Some of you guys have already seen the new layout. You all are quick. Yep, it commemorates the winter season, which isn’t always blue skies and brilliant white snow. Most of the time it’s grey, hazy pale lavender, nevertheless this time of year possesses its own beauty, which I’m very slowly getting accustomed to recognizing. In a way, I consider this layout an offering to the winter gods to make it more like winter. It’s a bit too warm for Glühwein and the Weinnachtsmarkt (Christmas market). Stupid logic would suggest the sooner winter comes the quicker I can get it over with. But dumb luck doesn’t matter in this case. We leave in about 3 weeks for Florida and return in the middle of January. It will be a shock the body won’t be able to avoid.
So last week I attempted a quick mock-up of Thanksgiving. Maribeth made me do it. She wouldn’t stop writing about all the goodies she was going, in the process of, had cooked up. I concentrated on the “Beilage” or side dishes with mashed potatoes inspired by my father’s cooking, and a sweet corn cake recipe I can’t wait to try again, that was delicious. It still needs some doctoring, though.
I bought a rotisserie chicken from the Wochenmarkt about 50 m down the street. The chicken man was speaking to some animated old guy when I strolled up to his traveling chicken roasting truck. I asked for a whole chicken and he asked if I wanted to eat it there or take it home with me. Funny man. Then he asked me where I’m from, Florida. Am I visiting. Do I live here. No. Yes. What am I doing here. I’m a student. Old guy chimes in and asks where? Florida. Ooooh! Old guy has relatives in Florida but its too far, like 19 hours! (more like 11 hours) All the while I’m impressed that I understand either one of these guys. Chicken man is either Italian or Turkish, his words are so jumbled and the intonation is mindboggling. I was invited to pick up another chicken next Thursday for 5.50 Euro. I feel I’ve passed the initiation, hehe.
The chicken was great, a little dry cause I bought it a few hours before it was served but our American guest, Mandy and her German fiancé, Fabian, seemed pleased with the meal. When we arrive in Florida, I think I will stock up on some canned cranberry sauce. That was a prize I definitely missed.
Organic Schmanic
The best drink on earthEverywhere you look there’s Bio here, Bio there. Last year, Germans doled out more than 4 Billion Euro for ecologically produced groceries. Apparently that’s 15% more dough than in 2004 (source: deutschperfekt 9/06). Germany is Bio Bananas.
Back in the States, Bio foods are called organic foods. Yet similarly in the States, it was just awhile back that organic foods were only found in specialty markets. It wasn’t until 1998 that the first of many ‘Bio-Supermarkets’ opened in Germany. Organic just seemed to come out of nowhere. Aren’t all foods from living organisms, what’s with the name? But now there’s a distinction between those foods that use fertilizers or pesticides that are strictly of animal or vegetable origin and those that don’t. But I’m not sure if that’s a universal definition. Bio is still a vague label to me.
I remember back in 2000, my first encounter with an organic supermarket of unusual size was in Charlottesville, Virginia called, Whole Foods. I decided to try my hand at organic bacon and was sorely disappointed. That down-home, vein-clogging euphoria just wasn’t there despite the ever presence in the grease factor. Bacon needs nitrates, salts, sugar, and spices. Organic bacon ought to be sacrilegious. Which brings me to my point. Why do we even need unhealthy foods to be healthy with organic production?
This goes for cookies or crackers. The very nature of a cookie is a splurge and indulgence. It’s a waste of good wholesome organic spelt, wheat, cane sugar. Organic junk food will never compete in flavor against their enriched flour, partially hydrogenated oil, corn syrup counterparts. Why torture ourselves with a wholegrain, lightly sweetened cardboard cut-out of a cookie? The aftertaste of these Organic Wholegrain Chocolate Biscuits is like soggy Grapenuts cereal. And there was no hint of chocolate to be found in not one cookie, yet those brown specks are chocolate, right? Uh huh, they are good for you because really -you CAN eat just one.
Yeah sure I could just avoid these yumyum impostors and go straight for a Girlscout Thin Mint or Samoas (if only they had these here:’(). But I’m easily seduced by the very thought that I could have my cake and eat it too. There are some things that can’t be compromised. So better take the stairs with a Little Debbie in hand instead scowling over a bag of bio-Gebäck.
But sometimes I hit gold, like with these tasty spelt crackers with bear’s garlic and Parmesan. It’s not a Trisket, but it will pass. My all-time favorite drink above any is Bionade (pronounced Bio-nah-da, not like Koolaid, Lemonade, or Gatorade), just slightly beating out an ice cold IBC Creme Soda, it’s that good.
Maybe you can tell that I’ve got American food on my mind. Just one month left until The Gorge (Krispy Kreme and Smelly Belly, oooh). Don’t get me wrong I use my fair share of organic vegetables and fruits because they taste better. I especially like using the organic powdered broth and sauce starters. They contain no MSG or E numbers. However, I don’t see myself as a Bio/Organic consumer elitist especially when I don’t even know what these trendy names really mean.
