A Couple of Wursts
In Germany there is no way to avoid the wurst temptation. From bratwurst to blargenwurst to bockwurst to frankfurters, one should not leave Germany without having some sausage (unless he or she is a vegetarian). Today I review two wursts — bockwurst and knacker. This bockworst (above, left) is from a gas station. The Dap-Kings are very familiar with gas station food, but here in Germany they take it to another level. You can get ham shanks that are delicious, meatballs that will give you a run for your money, and a tasty sausage of course. Bockworst is similar to a foot long hot dog except its prepared in such a way that the casing will snap quite loudly when you bite into it. Also, the taste is different but in a subtle way that is hard to describe. Germans do not put these wursts in soft buns that equal the length of the meat like Americans do. Instead, they serve them with a small roll. Some will put the dog in the roll so the two ends stick out of the bun like antennae. Others will just make a big pile of zenf (mustard) and dip the sausage in, take a bite, and follow this up with a bite of bread. The knacker is also very similar to a hot dog except I have here Grunkohl auf Knacker, which is stewed kale with sausage (this is from a Berlin street vendor). The kale tastes exactly like collard greens cooked southern style. It goes well with the knacker, although I find this particular knacker to be a little tough and weird tasting. I am looking foward to more wursts as I travel through Germany; if anyone has any suggestions for good types of wursts to be consumed, please let me know.
October 28th, 2007 at 4:13 am
i wonder if you could find a veggiewurst in germany ( maybe it could be illegal) but probably it exists there. the knacker mit kale looks awesome. There must be wurst contests in germany (wurst-offs??) it would be cool to find out where and when. keep eating!
October 28th, 2007 at 4:16 am
maybe you can get someone to design a DAPWURST or a FUNKWURST….or
October 28th, 2007 at 5:15 am
Hey homer,
thanks for the show last night. You guys rule…
Did you know that Germany still is devided into two parts. And its not east and west but north and south. The borderline is call the “Weißwurst-Äquator” (the “veil sausage equator”). And also - this might be also helpful to our foreign freinds to know, calling someone a “Wurst” is quite an insult. Do people in the states call each other a “sausage”? And if not, start doing it. it’s fun!
October 28th, 2007 at 6:00 am
Oddly enough, most of your German Wurst examples have featured boiled wursts instead of grilled ‘Würste’ (indeed, this is the offical German Plural form of Wurst, and I am aware it looks very German). I recommend a visit to a local Currywurst cuisine. Any local can give you advice on where to shop for this delicious type of Wurst. The Currywurst meal consists of a grilled suasage, plenty of curry / tomato sauce (often available in different types of hottness), and golden brown french fries. I highly recommend taking maynonaise to the fries, adding a pleasant addition of flavour to the raunchy hot Currywurst. Again, any local in any German town can point out the best spots to get one. Particularly Berlin & Cologne are known for their Currywürste. Down south, Bavaria hosts some different kinds of wursts all along, but I’m no expert when it comes to Weisswürste (true, sausages in Bavaria are white, and allegedly Michael Douglas, of ‘Wall Street’ fame, is a big fan).
Hope this helps,
Patrick
October 28th, 2007 at 6:57 am
Hey, nice report on the sausages
I’m german and looking forward to your gig on wednesday in vienna!
Little question:
I tried to find out but couldn’t, Which drumset (cymbals, snare etc) did you play on the “back to black” album? (is it also your tour-set?)
best regards from vienna
moritz
October 28th, 2007 at 7:01 am
and for your sausage collection, when you’re in vienna, check out the “käsekrainer”
but you won’t find any “wieners” in wien
October 28th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Hey Homer, interesting blog you started here.
Nice to see you also enjoyed the food in Germany. I had the pleasure of seeing you guys at the Mandarin Kasino in Hamburg last Friday. Great Show, I really enjoyed it. Sharon was incredible and I need not say anything about the dap kings! Drums sounded wonderfull.
I hope you get back here soon oh and next time be sure to bring the budos band with you as well
Jay
October 29th, 2007 at 10:59 am
Hey Moritz, I used a vintage (60’s or 70’s) ludwig red sparkle set for the Winehouse record: 22inch bass drum and an ludwig acrolite snare drum. The cymbals are vintage Ziljians, not sure what make or year. See you in Vienna, I’ll be on the lookout for the kasekrainer.
October 29th, 2007 at 11:37 am
think for the next post you can sneak in a shot of the tour t-shirt? maybe you wearing the shirt biting into your next meal? yeah, that sounds like a great idea to me.
November 12th, 2007 at 3:19 am
Hey! , i was looking for websites similar to mine on about asia travel and i was directed to your post A Couple of Wursts , i must say that your post is informative - I shall bookmark and link back to you
November 26th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Hi, you have a jolly good post here, thanks for the good read
December 25th, 2007 at 5:20 am
Danica Patrick…
Man i love reading your blog, interesting posts !…
January 24th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Hi there…Man i just love your blog, keep the cool posts comin..holy Thursday
April 11th, 2008 at 9:06 am
way cool writing, your web site is great too. i’m loving that acrolite sound, just went and bid on one. if in new orleans, drop me a line.
August 4th, 2010 at 12:57 am
Hey Homer,
Have been enjoying your blog. You always have a great bass drum sound live and studio. I’m curious what is your favorite Batter Side Bass Drum Head? Coated Ambassador?