For Better or for Wurst

True to my German heritage, I love sausage. Bratwurst, frankfurter, nürnbergers, landjäger… I love them all, but Berlin has a one-of-a-kind sausage scene so on my recent research trip, I was keen as mustard to try the city’s beloved signature street food: currywurst.  Invented in post-war Berlin by a lady named Herta Heuwer, it has been a local favourite ever since.

With a Schnellimbiss (a fast food stand) at every corner, and little time to play with, I needed help to thin the field so I called on the experts. Bastian of Berlin Food Tour came to the rescue and introduced me to a handful of particularly worthwhile stops such as Curry 61 and Curry 36, where any inventiveness that’s lacking in the name is generously applied to the secret sauce.

What exactly is this sausage I speak of and what makes it so special? To the uninitiated, it resembles nothing more than an ordinary boiled sausage, sliced and doused in curry–flavoured ketchup, and served alongside a bread bun or Pommes rot weiss (fries with ketchup and mayo – any self-respecting German’s condiments of choice). But as with so many things in life, not all currywurst are created equal. Although it’s a simple snack, every vendor has their own secret or not-so-secret recipe for creating that magic sauce – the one ingredient that separates the merely good from the wünderbar.

Should you become a fan on your next trip to Berlin, take your newfound love to the next level by visiting the world’s only dedicated currywurst museum, or check out the plaque honouring its inventor on the corner of Kant and Kaiser Friedrich streets where for decades she had her kiosk.

By writing her inaugural Sounder post on sausages, Claudia has catapulted herself in the Trufflepig pantheon of über trip-planners. Email her here to get started with your Teutonic tasting trip.