What's the wurst that could happen?

It seems that German white sausage, or Weisswurst, comes with its very own culturally prescribed rituals. The Austrian Times reports:

A gourmet guide showing how to eat traditional German sausages has become a worldwide hit after being translated into English and Japanese. Academic Dr Werner Siegert wrote the "Essential Weisswurst Etiquette Guide" to make sure the noble art of correctly eating the sausage did not die out. But the stuffy guide - dubbed the Sausage Noshers' Handbook by fans - has become a cult hit after selling out its print run in Germany. It shows fans how to prepare, cook and eat the rare white sausage and other gourmet bangers. Dr Siegert explained: "It's been such a success that it is now being translated into several languages."

Intrigued, I did a bit of searching for more information. Portuguese agency Photonews had this to say:

Dr. Werner Siegert, author of the "Essential Weisswurst Etiquette Guide" that treats everything around Bavaria’s specialty, the white sausage (Weisswurst), said: "The guide has been translated to English and Japanese. Actually, in Japan there is a butcher who was born in Ulm, Germany who every year at the time of the Oktoberfest sells white sausages there. In Neumarkt, Germany there is a white sausage academy, set up by butcher Witmann. There the guide is being used for teaching." He added: "Since the guide is advertised too little and Munich’s tavern keepers don’t want to sell it, sales are ok but not good."




The white sausage academy was established in 2006. You can get your own white sausage diploma there. The seminar lasts two to three hours, encompasses subjects [such] as "beer knowledge" and "mustard knowledge" and costs 50 GBP [about US $75] per person. In the seminar you get to know facts about the production of the white sausage but also about how to consume it in the right way because according to Siegert, quarrels about how to eat them in the right way are bound to arise as soon as two Bavarians are eating white sausages together.

There's more at the link.

Back in 2003, the Telegraph carried an article on the original German edition of the Weisswurst guide, which gives more detail about the controversial (?) subject.

Mr Siegert [pictured left], a business consultant, admits that the proper sucking technique requires practice if it is not to "disgust" those who are watching. However, he says, the customs and ritual surrounding weisswurst are an essential part of Germany's heritage and need to be preserved.

"The weisswurst is something special," he says, "and eating it is a unique experience that binds us together. A lot of Germans have lost track of the etiquette involved."

The success of Mr Siegert's 180-page book is testimony to the importance of the sausage in German life. Every self-respecting town and region has a sausage named in its honour, and there are regular legal clashes between sausage-makers as they attempt to copyright their recipes and stop rivals producing doppel-bangers.

No sausage is more steeped in tradition and respect than the weisswurst, produced since the 14th century in the Bavarian heartland of sausage-making, and originally made by peasant farmers with just enough land to keep a single milking cow. The meat from unwanted calves was ground up with salt and water, then packed into a bowel lining. The white colour of the veal gave the sausage its name.

Since then, pork fat and herbs have been added to the weisswurst to enhance its flavour, and it is now served with pride at state receptions and official functions.

It has become the most popular of Germany's hundreds of sausage varieties and a rich tradition has grown up around it - governing the time of day it should be eaten, which of 300 different types of bread it should be served with, and how it should be chewed and swallowed to extract the maximum flavour.

In Munich's White Stag restaurant last week, lunchers engaged in a heated debate on the way to eat the sausage. Karl-Heinz Mueller, a pensioner, argued that the sucking technique known as "zuzeln" was the only correct procedure, smacking his lips to make his point.

Across the table, however, Walter Koenig, a businessman, was using his cutlery first to slice, then to peel his Weisswurst. "This is the only way to do it," he insisted, reaching for a second helping.

Another technique involves slitting the Weisswurst open along one side before removing the skin in a single piece and either eating the sausage whole, with fingers, or cut into slices, with cutlery.

Mr Siegert, 72, who says his book is the culmination of 30 years' study of the weisswurst, has other stipulations for the perfect sausage experience. "It is essential to have three weisswurst in each serving, not two or four, and they should not be eaten after midday. This dates from when people didn't have a fridge and the sausages had to be consumed quickly before they went bad.

"Another issue is what to eat with your weisswurst: a strong mustard is as essential as a good red wine is to pasta. There also has to be pretzels and white beer."

He added: "Germans believe that how you eat your sausage reveals something about your personality. Many a friendship has come to an abrupt end after a carefully prepared weisswurst meal was ruined because of an ill-informed request for ketchup, sauerkraut or a glass of lemonade."

Again, there's more at the link.

There you are; more than you ever wanted to know about Weisswurst! Of course, its contents and the preparation process may be a little off-putting to some. As Bismarck is widely (though mistakenly) believed to have said, "To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making." Irrespective of attribution, whoever said it first was a wise man . . .

To misquote once more: "I'll be here all week. Try the veal sausage!"



Peter