Octoberfest Currywurst
As mentioned prior, I am playing bachelor for an extended period, and as such have the freedom to explore my culinary desires.
Whilst trolling the kitchen looking for a snack, I find a smoked sausage that requires consumption, and also, having no input from my dietician/nutritionist, I find a lovely six-pack of beer. Brats in beer is an age-old Bad Wolf standby, but I want something more. Spying the scheduling calendar on the fridge door, I am reminded of Octoberfest. It becomes natural that I would cook something German.
Currywurst is the snack of the night, and to make sure I sleep well a generous side of tater-tots, washed down with a beer, perhaps two.
I have also included an optional recipe for curry ketchup, as a dipping sauce for fries. Don’t use curry ketchup to make this dish; keep it simple.
From Wikipedia:
Currywurst 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 fries.
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. 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. She patented her sauce under the name “Chillup” in 1951. At its height the stand was selling 10,000 servings per week. She later opened a small restaurant which operated until 1974.
Today, currywurst is often sold as a take-out/take-away food, Schnellimbisse (snack stands), at diners or “greasy spoons,” on children’s menus in restaurants, or as a street food and usually served with french fries or bread rolls (Brötchen). It is popular all over Germany but especially in the metropolitan areas of Berlin, Hamburg and the Ruhr Area. Considerable variation, both in the type of sausage used and the ingredients of the sauce, occurs between these areas. Common variations include the addition of paprika or chopped onions; halal food stands often prepare currywurst with beef sausage. Often currywurst is sold in food 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 a Currywurst fork.
Curry Wurst
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb Bratwurst Sausages Kielbasa, or other pre-cooked smoked sausage works
- 1/4 cup Beer
- 1 tsp Olive Oil
- 1 ea Onion Peeled, minced
- 1 cup Ketchup Regular Ketchup.
- 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1/4 cup Chicken Stock
- 2 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp Curry Powder Plus more for garnish
- 1 tbsp Smoked Paprika
- Cayenne To taste
Instructions
- In a medium pot over medium heat, add the beer and sausages, and bring to a simmer. Simmer to heat through, ~ 10 minutes
- In a heavy skillet over medium heat, add the oil, and whence it shimmers add the onion. Cook until soft. ~5 minutes
- Whence the onions have softened, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until reduced slightly and thickened.
- Remove the sausages from the pot and slice them into thick rounds.
- Add the sausage rounds to the curry gravy and heat through.
- Dust with curry powder, and serve with French Fries and beer.
Notes
Nutrition
Curry Ketchup
Ingredients
Instructions
- Add all into bowl, whisk to combine, adjust thickness with dribbles of water
- Store overnight in the refrigerator
Notes
Nutrition
Filed
under: Braise, German, Pub Food, Quick, Sauce, Simmer
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