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What is Weisswurst?

Sara Schmidt
Sara Schmidt
Sara Schmidt
Sara Schmidt

A mildly spiced white sausage, weisswurst is a Bavarian delicacy. The blend of fine cuts of pork and veal is traditionally served for breakfast. It can be bought from specialty meat shops or served in German restaurants.

One of the most famous foods from Munich, traditional weisswurst is usually served in pairs of sausages. Lean cuts of veal and pork are accompanied by finely-ground mustard seed, parsley, onion powder, and white pepper. The white sausage is enclosed in a thin skin, which is not meant to be eaten.

Weisswurst is a Bavarian delicacy and one of the most famous foods from Munich.
Weisswurst is a Bavarian delicacy and one of the most famous foods from Munich.

Cooked in scalding hot water, the slightly sweet dish is normally served before noon. Typically, the only people who request the meal as a lunch or dinner dish are tourists. When served, the pairs of sausages are typically still in water, nestled in a covered pot to retain its warm, moist texture. The sausage can be served with other traditional German foods, such as soft bread pretzels, sweet apple mustard, and white wheat beer, or weissbeer.

Weisswurst is commonly eaten for breakfast along with more traditional foods.
Weisswurst is commonly eaten for breakfast along with more traditional foods.

To eat a weisswurst, simply cut it with a knife and fork like most other meat dishes. Locals often suck the meat from the skin at each end of the packaging. The sweet mustard served with the dish can be spread on top of the meat to enhance its flavor. Sliced onions may also be served atop the dish.

Since weisswurst is very tender, it should be cooked on low heat. To make sure that a weisswurst sausage is fresh, the parsley flecks beneath the nearly pure white skin can be checked. If these flakes are no longer a vibrant green and instead are a dull gray color, the sausage should not be eaten.

When purchasing weisswurst for cooking, chefs should keep in mind that four sausages can generally be made from one pound (half of one kilogram) of the meat. Other serving suggestions for weisswurst including pairing the meat with German red cabbage, mashed potatoes with gravy and mushrooms, or sauerkraut. It can be sweetened with the addition of brown sugar, cloves, and nutmeg when cooked. Onions, allspice, salt, and bay leaves are other popular seasonings when simmering this dish at home.

These German sausages can be added frozen to simmering water. Cover the sausages and keep them in the simmering water, removing them from heat as boiling bubbles begin to form. Steep the meat in the water for five to ten more minutes before serving.

Sara Schmidt
Sara Schmidt

A graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, Sara has a Master’s Degree in English, which she puts to use writing for WiseGEEK and several magazines, websites, and nonprofit organizations. She has published her own novella, and has other literary projects currently in progress. Sara’s varied interests have also led her to teach children in Spain, tutor college students, run CPR and first aid classes, and organize student retreats.

Learn more...
Sara Schmidt
Sara Schmidt

A graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, Sara has a Master’s Degree in English, which she puts to use writing for WiseGEEK and several magazines, websites, and nonprofit organizations. She has published her own novella, and has other literary projects currently in progress. Sara’s varied interests have also led her to teach children in Spain, tutor college students, run CPR and first aid classes, and organize student retreats.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

SarahSon

When we were visiting Germany, one of the things we were recommended to try was the weisswurst. Since I love meat, and am always open to trying new things I was looking forward to this meal.

There were many traditional foods we tried when we were there, and the weisswurst was one of our favorites. I'm not much of a cook, so have never thought about going to the trouble of making it myself.

I will look for a good German restaurant and enjoy it that way. When I was told how it was made, it seemed like it was more complicated and time consuming than I wanted to do, but I do enjoy someone else putting all that time and effort in to it.

sunshined

There is a Bavarian restaurant a few miles from our house that we usually eat at once a year or so. It is not one that we go to often, but once in a while some of their food hits the spot.

This is the first place I tried some weisswurst, and since I like sausage figured it would be pretty good. It was served with a soft pretzel, and I really liked the pretzel better than the meat. This was not something that I liked well enough that I wanted to learn how to cook weisswurst myself.

My husband enjoyed it better than I did, so I told him if he wanted some at home, he could learn to make it himself. He has ordered it more than once at the restaurant, but has never made it at home yet.

ddljohn

@anamur-- That's funny! I must say that you broke quite a few golden rules when it comes to eating weisswurst. Weisswurst is a culture in Germany and there is definitely a proper way to have it.

First of all, the reason that it is not eaten for lunch and dinner is more about necessity and health than anything else. Weisswurst is prepared in the mornings for breakfast. Since this sausage is cooked for a short period of time, it has to be eaten fast or it will spoil and if you have it spoiled you will certainly get sick. That's why the rule is to have weisswurst before the clock hits noon- to avoid getting sick if the weisswurst has lost its freshness.

The proper side dishes for weisswurst is pretzel, weisswurst mustard and weissbier. The drink you mentioned- spezi- is meant for kids! It's also proper to eat weisswurt by either slicing it and then peeling the skin off or by sucking. Both of which require some practice.

Obviously, I still recommend all tourists to have weisswurst when they are in Germany because it is delicious. Try and do it the proper way if you can, if you can't, it's okay!

serenesurface

I didn't know that weisswurst is meant to be eaten for breakfast! I always ate them for lunch and dinner when I was in Germany. I feel so bad now! The Germans must have thought I was crazy.

It probably didn't help that I hate mustard and always asked for ketchup and mayo with my weisswurst. The server usually gave me a disgusted look before walking away to get them.

I also loved drinking spezi with weisswurt. Spezi is a German soda that's the combination of cola and some kind of lemonade. I had weisswurt with beer too but also with spezi a couple of times. I must have been a real nightmare for my server huh?

candyquilt

This was definitely one of my favorite sausages in Germany. My German roommate even told me the story about this sausage.

Apparently, the founder of the sausage was a sausage-maker in Germany in the 1800s. He ran out of the thick skin he generally used to make sausage and there were a lot of customers waiting for their orders. He saved the day by filling thin skins with meat and slightly cooking them. The customers loved it and he named his new sausage "weisswurst" because it was so white.

My roommate also told me that a good quality and fresh weisswurst will be extremely white. So white, that you can actually see the spices and the parsley just looking at it. That's how I always checked weisswurst before eating them in Germany.

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    • Weisswurst is a Bavarian delicacy and one of the most famous foods from Munich.
      By: max_776
      Weisswurst is a Bavarian delicacy and one of the most famous foods from Munich.
    • Weisswurst is commonly eaten for breakfast along with more traditional foods.
      By: Nitr
      Weisswurst is commonly eaten for breakfast along with more traditional foods.