Bregenwurst

Its name means brain, and it has not legally contained any since 2001.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains pork, sausage casings, which are gut unless it says otherwise.

Ingredients

• 700 g pork shoulder, diced and well chilled
• 500 g pork belly, diced and well chilled
• 2 onions, chopped fine
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground white pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 100 ml cold water
• natural hog casings

Method

1. ITS NAME MEANS BRAIN, AND IT HAS NOT LEGALLY CONTAINED ANY SINCE 2001. The article gives both halves in one sentence: it is made of PORK, PORK BELLY, AND PIG OR CATTLE BRAIN, HOWEVER ANIMAL BRAINS HAVE BEEN FORBIDDEN IN FOODSTUFFS WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION SINCE 2001, AS A CONSEQUENCE OF BSE OUTBREAKS.
2. SO THE NAME OUTLIVED THE INGREDIENT BY TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. BREGENWURST COMES FROM THE LOW GERMAN WORD BREGEN MEANING BRAIN, and what is sold under that name today has none in it at all. The recipe below is the sausage as it is lawfully made now, which is the only version there is.
3. AND THE TEXTURE IS WHAT THE BRAIN USED TO DO. It made the sausage soft and spreadable; the article says the modern one IS EATEN RAW OR STEWED, WHICH GIVES IT A SPREADABLE CONSISTENCY ONCE BROKEN FROM ITS CASING. Fat and a coarse grind do the job instead, which is why the belly is nearly half of this.
4. MINCE IT COARSE AND ONCE ONLY. A fine paste sets firm and will not spread. One pass through a large plate.
5. EVERYTHING COLD, INCLUDING THE BOWL. Warm pork fat smears and the sausage weeps.
6. THE ONION GOES IN RAW AND CHOPPED, NOT SOFTENED. It is there for sharpness against all that fat, and cooked first it only adds sweetness.
7. WORK THE WATER THROUGH LAST, by hand, until the mix just holds together. It keeps the grind open.
8. FILL THE CASINGS LOOSELY, which is the opposite of most sausages. A tight one cannot be spread; a loose one breaks open under a knife, which is what is wanted.
9. STEW IT GENTLY RATHER THAN FRYING, twenty minutes in barely simmering water, so the fat stays in.
10. SERVED WITH KALE IN WINTER, which the article names -- in winter it is also served with Grünkohl. Split the casing at the table and spread it on bread, or stir it through the kale.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Germany · All recipes