The Munich Weisswurst (Weißwurst) or white sausage

The Munich Weisswurst or “Weißwurst”, (White sausage). Created in Munich by a young butcher called Sepp Moser in 1857. This delicacy was discovered by accident. Wurst is the German word for sausage. The traditional sausage is a real Bavarian speciality, don’t be put of by the colour, it made from veal and cooked in hot water. A sweet mustard is normally served to compliment the sausage.

Background on the Munich Weisswurst

On “Fasching Sunday”, (Mardi Gras) 22nd February 1857, he was working in the Munich kitchen of the restaurant “Zum ewigen Licht” next to his butcher’s shop. He had used the last of the thick sausage skin used to make the normal sausages. The guests in the restaurant were waiting for their meal and shouted their displeasure. To solve the problem he used the only other skin he had, which was thin, filling the sausage, he worried that the skin would burst open during frying, so he put the sausages in hot water for 10 minutes to cook them.

When he took the “Weisswurst” to the guests, there was some comments, but after tasting the new sausage, instead of abuse and criticism, he was heaped with praise and congratulations. The Munich Weißwurst was born.

The original recipe, still followed today, is lean calf meat, bacon, herbs and spices, the freshness of a lemon and parsley, the soul of the sausage. There is an art to peeling the skin off the sausage before eating. My method is cut the sausage in half, then slit the skin length ways, push a fork into the open end and with a knife grip the skin and pull round. Easy!

Eaten mainly in the morning until 12.00, it is eaten fresh as there was no refrigerators 100 years ago, so the traditional has remained. Enjoy with a Munich Weisswurst with a fresh Breze and a Weißbier, fantastic.