Currywurst, the german fast food

This is by far the best-known and most famous fast-food in all of Germany. Neither the doner kebap, nor the pizza, nor the burgers of USA chains have managed to unseat it for more than 70 years.

Although there are some denials, the official version says that the recipe was created in 1949 by Herta Hewer, born in Königsberg but living in Berlin. Herta ran a street food stall - what in German is called Imbiss - and at some point she decided to create a sauce with which to serve sausages using ingredients common among the western troops that were occupying the city at that time. That is why the sauce includes curry and Worcestershire sauce, very rare in German cuisine.

The recipe for the sauce that she called chillup was a resounding success and since then it has been the quintessential street food of the city of Berlin, as well as the rest of Germany.

Another version attributes the invention to another woman who also ran a similar business in Hamburg but this time in 1947, so in theory it would have been two years ahead of what is considered the original until now. However, the attribution of the currywurst to Hamburg has not been proven.

Currywurst consists of a single serving of sausage - it can be brühwurst, that is boiled, but more commonly bratwurst, roasted - cut into chunks and bathed in a sauce containing at least curry and worcestershire. To make it more consistent and also that you can wet the sauce, it can be placed on pieces or slices of bröchten (rolls).

Currywurst is usually served on a rectangular-shaped cardboard plate and it is the customer who serves the sauce at will. They also provide you with a plastic fork to prick the food - hence the sausage is cut - and you can taste it sitting in a park or walking through the city. Come on, don't dare to order currywurst in a Berlin restaurant because there isn't, nor is it expected.

Berlin is again the capital of Germany since 1999, after reunification. Between 1945 and 1989 it was divided between an eastern sector, belonging to the German Democratic Republic, a satellite country of the Soviet Union, and West Berlin, first under the control of the western powers that won the Second World War and then an enclave that the Federal Republic German. This initially political division became physical when in 1961 a wall was erected between the two sides. With the construction of the same, the communists of the East tried to stop the bleeding of inhabitants who went to the western side where the standard of living and job opportunities were much better.

Since West Berlin was a capitalist and democratic enclave completely surrounded by the GDR, the government of Bonn (capital of the FRG) heavily subsidized the inhabitants who remained in the city (low taxes and rents). Even the young people who moved to living in the city were de facto exempt from military service. Everything was made to avoid it would become a ghost city. Even so, Berlin was losing inhabitants because despite the aid received, job opportunities were seriously diminished by isolation. Relative isolation because circulation to the city, in one direction or another, was allowed through certain roads in the GDR.

The high presence of young people favored an environment with an intense nightlife and culture that it still conserves today. Once the capitality of Germany was recovered, the population has increased to three and a half million inhabitants who enjoy a job, cultural and educational offer that is probably the highest in Europe. It is worth mentioning the Pergamon Museum, which among other wonders houses the Altar of Zeus in the city of Pergamum (and which gives the museum its name) or the Ishtar Gate that once stood in Babylon. You should also go to Berlin if you want to admire the bust of Queen Nefertiti, the most famous work of art from Ancient Egypt with permission of the Tutankhamun mask. In this case the work is in the Neues Museum. Berlin is surrounded by forests and lakes - actually landscaped natural spaces - created thanks to the enormous number of rivers that run through it and to a special agreement that the city signed with Prussia whereby there would always be a green belt around it. They are places that are worth visiting and that relax a bit of the urban monumentality that has been imprinted on a fairly overcrowded city. Something similar to what happens in London with its immense gardens.

There are many recipes for currywurst. The one presented here is one of many, quite faithful to the original. Of course, do not expect the same in every Imbiss you find in Germany.

INGREDIENTS (4 people) 

• 4 bratwurst type sausages (that is, raw, that need to be fried or grilled) 
• 1 cup of tomato sauce * 
• Half a cup of apple juice ** 
• 1 large red onion 
• 3 tablespoons tomato concentrate 
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar 
• 2 teaspoons curry (plus an additional amount to sprinkle on top)
• 1 pinch of cayenne pepper 
• Salt 
• Olive, sunflower, canola, corn oil etc

* You will also find recipes where ketchup is used

** Honey is used in some recipes to give it a bittersweet touch. The juice is preferably natural or at least without sugar or sweetener.

Grate the onion and fry it in a little oil until transparent. We add the two teaspoons of curry, the pinch of cayenne pepper and the tablespoons of tomato concentrate (it is easy to find, you will find it in any supermarket). 

The tomato sauce and apple juice are added immediately, as well as the vinegar. Let it do for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. We already have the "chillup" ready. There are people who prefer to pass it through the blender to make it as fine as possible, it is going to taste. The Heinz brand (which is German) sells a very fine and smooth chillup in Germany and people have gotten used to it. We reserve the chillup keeping it warm.

We fry or grill the sausages. It serves any type of sausage, but bratwurst are the best (the ones ready to prepare grilled or fried).  When they are done we cut them into slices. We distribute the dishes of the diners and bathe them in the sauce. Then, if you like, sprinkle curry on top. In some cases they are served with French fries or with pieces or slices of bread that we have previously marked in the pan.