Jump to content

Currywurst

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Currywurst
Currywurst lightly topped with curry and served with French fries.
TypeBratwurst
Place of originGermany
Created byHerta Heuwer
Inventedc. 1949
Serving temperature70°C
Main ingredientsPorksausage,curry ketchup

Currywurst(German:[ˈkœʁiˌvʊɐ̯st]ⓘ[1]) is afast fooddishof German originconsisting ofsausagewithcurry ketchup.It was invented in 1949 byHerta Heuwer,who began selling it at a food stand in Berlin. TheDeutsches Currywurst Museumestimated that 800 million currywursts are eaten every year in Germany, with 70 million in Berlin alone.

History

[edit]

The invention of currywurst is attributed toHerta HeuwerinBerlinin 1949, after she obtained ketchup, or possiblyWorcestershire sauce,and curry powder fromBritish soldiers in Germany.[2]She mixed these ingredients with other spices and poured them over grilled pork sausage. Heuwer started selling them at a stand inCharlottenburg,where it became popular with construction workers rebuilding the devastated city.[3]

Heuwer 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 aGoogle Doodle.[6]

Konnopke's Imbiss (Fast Food Stand) in Berlin. It was the first Imbiss to sell currywurst in East-Berlin in 1960.

Today,currywurstis often sold as atake-out/take-away food,Schnellimbisse (snack stands), atdinersor "greasy spoons,"on children's menus inrestaurants,or as astreet foodand usually served with chips orbread rolls(Brötchen). It is popular all over Germany but especially in the metropolitan areas of Berlin,Hamburgand theRuhr Area.Considerable variation, both in the type of sausage used and the ingredients of the sauce, occurs between these areas.[7]

Common variations include the addition ofpaprikaor chopped onions.Halalfood stands often prepare currywurst with beef sausage.[7]Often currywurst is sold infood booths,sometimes using a special machine to slice it into pieces, and served on a paper plate with a little wooden or plastic fork, mostly acurrywurst fork.[8]It is sold as asupermarket-shelf product to prepare at home.[citation needed]

TheDeutsches Currywurst Museumestimated that 800 million currywursts are eaten every year in Germany, with 70 million in Berlin alone.[9][10][11][12]TheVolkswagenplant atWolfsburgruns its own butchery, producing about 7 millionVolkswagen currywurstsper year, serving many directly to Volkswagen employees.[13][14]

[edit]

Former ChancellorGerhard Schröderis 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" onHerbert Grönemeyer's 1982 albumTotal Egalis a tribute to the snack.[17]

The 1993 novelDie Entdeckung der Currywurst(English title: "The Invention of Curried Sausage",ISBN978-0811212977) byUwe Timmwas made into a 1998 play and a 2008 film both of the same name. The plot is based on an alternative but unproven theory that currywurst was invented inHamburg.

TheDeutsches Currywurst Museumopened 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]

Front and back of the commemorative coin for Herta Heuwer

In 2019Berlin State Mintissued 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), andHerta Heuwerin the background (caption: 70 Jahre Currywurst). The other side of the coin shows theBrandenburg Gate(caption: Münze Berlin, 2019).[20][21]

  • Served with bread
    Served with bread
  • Currywurst - served sliced
    Currywurst - served sliced
  • A "Taxi Teller" is a plate of fries served with currywurst, shashlik sauce, mayonnaise, gyros meat, and tzatsiki.
    A "Taxi Teller" is a plate of fries served with currywurst,shashliksauce, mayonnaise,gyros meat,andtzatsiki.
  • Currywurst as a supermarket-shelf product to prepare at home
    Currywurst as a supermarket-shelf product to prepare at home
  • Plaque in Charlottenburg, Berlin, where Herta Heuwer is said to have invented the currywurst
    Plaque in Charlottenburg, Berlin, whereHerta Heuweris said to have invented the currywurst

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^Duden,Curry.Accessed 2013-06-30
  2. ^Slackman, Michael (26 January 2011)."A Favorite Dish Laden With Fat and Contradiction".The New York Times.Retrieved24 October2020.
  3. ^abPaterson, Tony (15 August 2009)."Spicy sausage that is worthy of a shrine in Berlin".The Independent.London.Retrieved30 April2010.
  4. ^ab"Honoring the best of the Wurst of German Cuisine".Deutsche Welle. 15 August 2009.
  5. ^Kessler, Roman (27 August 2009)."The Craze Over Currywurst".The Wall Street Journal.
  6. ^"Herta Heuwer's 100th Birthday".www.google.com.
  7. ^ab"Berlin 24/7: What's the currywurst cult all about? | DW | 03.09.2017".DW.COM.
  8. ^"A Food Lover's Guide to Berlin".Condé Nast. 12 November 2014.Retrieved9 January2015.
  9. ^"No, it's not like a hot dog and why some people just don't get it".Retrieved7 March2023.
  10. ^Horenburg, Berit (23 August 2002)."Hau wech".Motorrad.Archived fromthe originalon 30 October 2013.Retrieved23 October2013.
  11. ^"Data and Facts"(PDF)(Press release). Deutsches Currywurst Museum. September 2013. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 29 October 2013.Retrieved23 October2013.
  12. ^ab"10 Things We Learned at Berlin's Museum Dedicated to Currywurst".Condé Nast. 17 December 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 10 January 2015.Retrieved9 January2015.
  13. ^Radomsky, Stephan (19 February 2016)."VW verkauft mehr Würste als Autos (VW sells more sausages than cars)".
  14. ^"Die Currywurst – das Originalteil wird 45! - Volkswagen inside".Archived fromthe originalon 3 September 2018.Retrieved3 September2018.
  15. ^"Sausage Museum Celebrates Berliners' Romance With Currywurst".Bloomberg. 13 August 2009.
  16. ^Boyes, Roger (15 August 2009)."Berlin dedicates museum to street-corner snack of wurst cuisine".London: Times Online.Retrieved30 April2010.
  17. ^Grönemeyer, Herbert."Currywurst"(in German). groenemeyer.de. Archived fromthe originalon 6 January 2013.Retrieved26 November2009.
  18. ^"German cult sausage gets own museum".Reuters. 13 August 2009.
  19. ^"The Currywurst Museum of Berlin is closed".currywurstmuseum.com.Retrieved17 February2024.
  20. ^"A German mint has made a currywurst coin and online reaction has been mixed".Irish Independent.15 January 2019.
  21. ^"70 Jahre Currywurst - Staatliche Münze Berlin"(in German).Staatliche Münze Berlin.Archived fromthe originalon 14 January 2019.Retrieved28 February2019.

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Currywurst&oldid=1235466674"