Everyone in Germany is familiar with it: the greasy sausage stand on the main shopping strip where you think twice about actually picking up a snack. The selection is limited anyway: bratwurst, currywurst and french fries. And only mustard, ketchup or mayonnaise to go along with it.
The classic "imbiss" was ubiquitous in Germany for decades, but, just like the classic "kneipe," or corner pub, the snack bars are slowly dying out. They're being replaced by modern, bright eateries with flair that offer a "burger of the week" with grilled antipasti vegetables, basil pesto, hazelnut mayo and grilled scamorza cheese. Truffle-Parmesan french fries are served with it.
But the journey from sausage to vegetable burger has been an odyssey.
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7 ways Germans talk about sausage
Das ist mir wurst (It doesn't matter to me)
Just don't care? Then it's "sausage" to you. Austrian singer, drag queen and LGBT activist Conchita Wurst has said he chose his second name based on this German expression - because it just doesn't matter where you're from or what you look like.
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7 ways Germans talk about sausage
Eine Extrawurst kriegen (to get special treatment)
Getting an extra sausage can be sweet rather than savory if it's an extra scoop of ice cream. An Extrawurst can be anything above and beyond what the others receive - like time off work when your co-workers are doing overtime, or a free first-class upgrade when your friends are sitting in coach. If you have three sausages on your plate while the others have two, an Extrawurst is an Extrawurst.
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7 ways Germans talk about sausage
Es geht um die Wurst (It's now or never)
You're a sprinter who's been training for the Olympic games for the past four years. The day of the race finally arrives. While you've been watching your diet, of course, now "it's all about the sausage." That is, the decisive moment has arrived and the stakes are high. If you're Usain Bolt, then chances are pretty safe the outcome will be in your favor.
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7 ways Germans talk about sausage
Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei! (Everything has an end, only the sausage has two)
All good things come to an end. But German optimism - apparently not an oxymoron after all - shines through in this expression. Here, sausage - which indeed has two ends - stands for a second chance. It's up to you to make the most of it.
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7 ways Germans talk about sausage
Mit dem Schinken nach der Wurst werfen (to downgrade or give up an advantage)
To "throw ham after sausage" sounds like a vegetarian's nightmare. Indeed, the situation could be dire, or at least is becoming so. Ham is more valuable meat than sausage, so having to throw the latter means the good stuff has run out. Of course, as most of us learned at a young age, food shouldn't be thrown at all. But that's another story.
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7 ways Germans talk about sausage
Die beleidigte Leberwurst spielen (To act all offended)
C'mon, stop acting like a "beleidigte Leberwurst" - an offended liver sausage. Legend has it that "offended liver" dates back to the Middle Ages when people thought our emotions, particularly anger, were connected to our livers. When that was disproven, a sausage story was added for fun: A butcher cooked a pot of sausages and the liver variety was upset that it took longer than the others.
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7 ways Germans talk about sausage
Armes Würstchen (You poor thing)
"You poor little sausage!" Being called a sausage is certainly not a compliment - even in a country that loves to eat them. It's often used half seriously to show (partial) sympathy with someone in a tough but not life-threatening situation. Perhaps they have two sick toddlers at home or have to cram for three exams at once. Just get over it? Sausage is also a comfort food.
Author: Kate Müser
From medieval carts to 'rubble' stalls
The snack is nothing new. Mobile snack stalls came about in the Middle Ages in Germany, with food offered for sale from carts at markets. But on days where the outdoor markets were closed, getting food on the go was by no means the norm.
"Since Germany, like all of Central Europe, was a society of scarcity for centuries, there was only just enough to eat," Gunther Hirschfelder, cultural anthropologist at the University of Regensburg, told DW. This resulted in a fixed meal schedule. Food was eaten according to fixed rules, at fixed times and at home. "It was considered indecent to trot through the countryside and munch on something."
Read more: Berlin 24/7: What's the currywurst cult all about?
This rigid system only relaxed in Germany after the Second World War. During reconstruction, a new form of out-of-home consumption was created in the ruins of German cities: the so-called "rubble stalls."
In Cologne, for example, there was the "Puszta Hütte" in the late 1940s, where goulash was served from pots. Eating outside of the home was still generally frowned upon, but the foundation was laid for a change in habits.
In Berlin, the currywurst first appeared on September 4, 1949, when Herta Heuwer invented the recipe of fried sausages, made of pork and beef, served with ketchup and spiced with curry powder.
US soldiers were simultaneously setting a new standard in the country. Not only had they brought along with them their casual manner, their chewing gum and their chocolate, but also their own food culture. Germans were becoming more familiar with eating on the road from the "diners" depicted in the US films of the time as well.
Mass motorization and the snack boom
Another stone for modern German snack culture was laid in the mining towns of the Ruhr area as early as the 19th century. Clean mineral water was offered in so-called "drinking halls" because normal drinking water was unpalatable. Later, coffee, tea and magazines were added to the selection. After the war, workers would stop as such places for a cigarette and a beer on their way to or from work. Soon, sandwiches were on offer to go along with it.
The actual triumph of the snack bars finally began in the 1960s with the economic upswing. Meat consumption became the norm, and the trend toward french fries was spreading from England and the Netherlands to Germany. The demand for a quick snack too grew dramatically.
The mass motorization and new desire to travel that accompanied the postwar "economic miracle" in Germany were doing their bit as well. Guest workers from Italy, Greece and Turkey opened their first fast food restaurants and stalls in large German cities and industrial centers.
The bratwurst soon faced competition from pizza and gyros, later from the popular döner kebab. In 1971, the first German McDonald's restaurant opened in Munich. Fast food culture was at its peak in the 1970s and 80s, a time when speed of service subsumed flavor, and sustainability.
Read more: Record for biggest kebab in the world set in Berlin
A classic "drinking hall" in western Germany
Slow food, health and environmental consciousness
At the turn of the millennium, snack culture changed noticeably. Classic greasy and salty fast food was considered unhealthy and got a bad rap. A demand for vegetarian and vegan food grew and the stalls and snack bars adapted, with a lot more falafel or tofu on the menu.
Nowadays snacks run the gamut of classic bratwurst at the soccer stadium stall, to vegan Indian food at a music festival, to insect burgers from the food truck.
"In our lifestyle society, one's individual lifestyle is expressed in their nutritional style," said Gunther Hirschfelder. In his opinion, the "permanent snacking" and eating out trend will continue due to new forms of mobility and the growing number of single households.
But he adds that the trend is moving away from exoticism and toward an "apolitical re-nationalization" and regionalization of German snack bar culture. Pretzels from the local bakery are cool again, as are french fries, though cooked in clean, saturated fat-free oil. Though food trends are fickle, snacks have found a permanent place in a fast-evolving culinary culture.
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8 foods with unexpected origins
Swedish meatballs' Turkish origins
ikea restaurants made them famous all over the world: Köttbullar, or Swedish meatballs. Sweden has now revealed that the recipe for its iconic dish actually came from Turkey. It was brought to the Scandinavian country by King Charles XII, who lived in exile in the Ottoman Empire in the early 18th-century. Unlike in Turkey, Swedes — and Ikea — often dish up meatballs with gravy and ligonberry jam.
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8 foods with unexpected origins
English muffin: an American invention
The English muffin actually doesn't come from England, though its creator did. Samuel Bath Thomas moved to the United States from England in 1874. It was only after crossing the Atlantic that he created the popular breakfast food that was baked on a griddle rather than in an oven. English muffins were imported for years into the UK from the US before British producers started making their own.
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8 foods with unexpected origins
Döner Kebab: somewhere between Germany and Turkey
Döner Kebab can be found worldwide, and many say the popular grab-and-go meal originated in Germany. Kadir Nurman, a Turkish-born restaurateur who lived in Berlin, is said to have been the first person to take traditional Turkish spit-roasted meat and stuff it into a flatbread. While many contest his 1972 "invention," Nurman definitely helped make the meal a German — and a global — culinary hit.
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8 foods with unexpected origins
Croissant: imported into France
What reputable French bakery would dare to not offer croissants? After all, the buttery, crescent-shaped pastry is practically synonymous with French baked goods. But the croissant actually comes from the Austrian "kipferl." This was brought to Paris by an Austrian artillery officer who adapted it into the croissant. And the "kipferl"? Its origins supposedly lie with the Ottomans.
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8 foods with unexpected origins
Fajitas and chimichangas: north of the border creations
The Spanish word "faja" means belt or sash, and "fajita" refers to the strips of beef skirt steak used in this dish. While prevalent on menus at Mexican restaurants today, the sizzling meal can actually be traced to West Texas cattle ranchers. The Tex-Mex chimichanga (above), a deep-fried burrito, has a similar story, though it is neither Texas nor Mexican — it was invented in Arizona.
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8 foods with unexpected origins
Bagel: aka the beigel
Round with a hole in the middle; boiled, then baked: that's the bagel we know today. For many, it's a New York City specialty, or an American one at least. But the bagel actually traces its roots to Jewish communities in Poland. The name "bagel" comes from Yiddish, which was influenced by German dialects. Bagels were a mainstay of Polish cuisine before Polish Jews brought them to the US.
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8 foods with unexpected origins
Fortune cookies: a Chinese dessert, but not in China
These crisp, hollow cookies that contain lucky numbers, words of wisdom or prophecies are served after a meal in Chinese restaurants in nearly every country — except for China, that is. They are not a tradition there. The sugary oracle is thought to have been first made by Japanese immigrants in California in the late 19th or early 20th century. A similar cookie is served in parts of Japan.
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8 foods with unexpected origins
Hummus: controversial chickpeas
While hummus' ingredients are easy enough to identify (chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon, garlic, salt), its origins are anything but clear. In fact, they can be downright controversial. Tension over the dip's origins even spiraled into a "Hummus war" after Lebanese and Israel both laid claim to it. The fact remains that hummus can be found widely across the Middle East and Mediterranean.
Author: Cristina Burack
