 Currywurst lightly topped with curry powder, curry sauce, and served with French fries | |
| Type | Bratwurst |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Germany |
| Region or state | Berlin |
| Associatedcuisine | German cuisine |
| Created by | Herta Heuwer |
| Invented | c. 1949 |
| Main ingredients | Porksausage,curry ketchup |
| Variations | Berliner currywurst,Volkswagen currywurst, currywurst with beef sausage |
| |
Currywurst (German:[ˈkœʁiˌvʊɐ̯st]ⓘ[1]) is afast food dishof German origin consisting ofsausage (usually pork) withcurry ketchup. It was invented in 1949 byHerta Heuwer, who began selling it at a food stand in West Berlin. TheDeutsches Currywurst Museum estimated that 800 million currywursts are eaten every year in Germany, with 70 million in Berlin alone.
The invention of currywurst is attributed toHerta Heuwer inBerlin in 1949, after she obtained ketchup, or possiblyWorcestershire sauce, andcurry powder fromBritish soldiers in Germany.[2] She mixed these ingredients with other spices and poured them over grilled pork sausage. Heuwer started selling them at a stand inCharlottenburg, where it became popular with construction workers rebuilding the devastated city.[3]
Heuwer patented her sauce under the name Chillup in 1951.[3] At its height the stand was selling 10,000 servings per week.[4] She later opened a small restaurant which operated until 1974.[5]
Today,currywurst is often sold as atake-away food, Schnellimbisse (snack stands), atdiners or "greasy spoons," on children's menus inrestaurants, or as astreet food and usually served with chips orbread rolls (Brötchen). It is popular all over Germany but especially in the metropolitan areas of Berlin,Hamburg and theRuhr Area. Considerable variation, both in the type of sausage used and the ingredients of the sauce, occurs between these areas.[6]
Common variations include the addition ofpaprika or chopped onions.Halal andkosher food stands often prepare currywurst with beef sausage.[6] Often currywurst is sold infood booths, sometimes using a special machine to slice it into pieces, and served on a paper plate with a little wooden or plastic fork, mostly acurrywurst fork.[7] It is sold as asupermarket-shelf product to prepare at home.[8]
TheDeutsches Currywurst Museum estimated that 800 million currywursts are eaten every year in Germany, with 70 million in Berlin alone.[9][10][11] TheVolkswagen plant atWolfsburg runs its own butchery, producing about 7 millionVolkswagen currywursts per year, serving many directly to Volkswagen employees.[12][13]
Former ChancellorGerhard Schröder is a noted fan of currywurst.[14] In a 2021 controversy overVolkswagen's plans to take the dish off its canteens' menus, he called it the "power bar of the skilled factory worker".[15] By tradition, every candidate for the mayor of Berlin is photographed at a currywurst stand.[16]
The song "Currywurst" onHerbert Grönemeyer's 1982 albumTotal Egal (meaning:Totally Regardless) is a tribute to the snack.[17]
The 1993 novelDie Entdeckung der Currywurst (English title: "The Invention of Curried Sausage",ISBN 978-0811212977) byUwe Timm was made into a 1998 play and a 2008 film both of the same name. The plot is based on an alternative but unproven theory that currywurst was invented inHamburg.
TheDeutsches Currywurst Museum (German Currywurst Museum) opened in Berlin in August 2009, commemorating the 60th anniversary of its creation.[4][11] Curator Martin Loewer said "No other national German dish inspires so much history and has so many well-known fans".[18] The museum received approximately 350,000 visitors annually. It permanently closed in December 2018.[19]
In 2019Berlin State Mint issued a commemorative currywurst coin celebrating the 70 years since the savoury snack was first sold in Berlin by Herta Heuwer. The silver alloy coin features two currywursts pierced with a wooden chip fork and poured with the sauce (coloured by print), andHerta Heuwer in the background (caption: 70 Jahre Currywurst). The other side of the coin shows theBrandenburg Gate (caption: Münze Berlin, 2019).[20][21]
.jpg)
