Saure Zipfel

The sausages go in raw and poach in vinegar until they turn pale blue.

Not vegetarian — contains a sausage whose meat the source does not name.

Ingredients

• 8 raw bratwurst, uncooked and uncoloured
• 2 onions, sliced into rings
• 200 ml white wine vinegar
• 200 ml dry white wine
• 200 ml water
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 6 cloves
• 8 juniper berries
• 1 teaspoon salt

Method

1. THE SAUSAGES GO IN RAW AND POACH IN VINEGAR UNTIL THEY TURN PALE BLUE. Its article is 958 bytes and the method is all there: onions, vinegar, white wine and spices ARE COOKED TOGETHER, then THE RAW BRATWÜRSTE ARE ADDED AND ARE SIMMERED ON LOW HEAT, and DURING THIS PROCESS, THEY BECOME A PALE BLUE THAT GIVES THE DISH ITS NAME.
2. SO THE COLOUR IS THE TEST AND NOT A FAULT. Blaue Zipfel, blue ends, is the other name the article gives. A sausage that has been browned first cannot do this -- the colour comes from raw meat meeting acid, and a seared skin seals it out.
3. WHICH MEANS NOTHING IS FRIED AT ANY POINT. No pan, no fat, no colour on the outside. This is the one German sausage dish with no browning in it.
4. BUILD THE BREW FIRST AND LET IT BOIL FIVE MINUTES. Onions, vinegar, wine, water, bay, peppercorns, cloves, juniper and salt. Boiling first takes the raw edge off the vinegar.
5. THEN TAKE IT DOWN TO A BARE SIMMER BEFORE THE SAUSAGES GO IN. The article says low heat and it matters: at a boil the skins split and the filling escapes into the brew.
6. FIFTEEN TO TWENTY MINUTES, UNCOVERED, TURNED ONCE. They will go from pink to grey to a faint blue-violet. The blue is strongest where the skin is thinnest.
7. TAKE THE PAN OFF AND LEAVE THEM IN THE BREW TO COOL A LITTLE. They go on taking up the vinegar and the colour deepens.
8. SERVED IN THE BREW, WHICH THE ARTICLE IS SPECIFIC ABOUT -- they are SERVED IN THE BREW WITH BREAD, BREAD ROLLS OR PRETZELS. Onions and all, in a shallow bowl, with a pretzel as on its own page.

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