All hail the sausage to rule all sausages

The dish: Bratwurst, Germany

One sausage to rule them all: German bratwurst.Credit: iStock

Plate up Let’s talk about the world’s best sausages. You have to include Spanish chorizo, which is obviously excellent. And don’t forget botifarra, the chorizo’s Catalan cousin. Then we can mention South Africa’s rough, hearty boerewors. North African merguez gets a shout. Argentinian-style chorizo is great. Thai-Lao sai oua is amazing. And it’s hard to top English Cumberland, or French Toulouse.

But the true greatest, the sausage to rule them all? It has to be a German bratwurst. They’re just so good: tender, flavourful, umami-rich, and crying out for a slather of mustard, a side of sauerkraut, and a gigantic glass of cold beer. Though there are multiple local variations of bratwurst in Germany, for the most part, these sausages are made with pork meat, which is ground and mixed with marjoram, along with mace, coriander and other spices, stuffed into sausage casing and then – ideally – cooked over coals.

First serve There’s evidence that sausages were being made in what is now Germany as far back as Celtic times, in the third or fourth century BC. The first recorded mention of a bratwurst, however, was in 1313, in the city of Nuremberg. During the 15th century the craze really kicked off, with local versions appearing in Thuringia, Coburg, and St Gallen in Switzerland. In 1567, the official recipe for Nuernberger bratwurst was settled upon – these uber-popular snags are small and thin, and are typically served (to this day) with three in a bun, topped with mustard.

Order there In some ways there are many, many places to grab a Nuernberger bratwurst in Nuremberg. In other ways, there’s only one: Bratwursthausle, an old stone house where brats have been sold since the 14th century (bratwursthaeuslenuernberg.de).

Order here In Sydney, you could go out for brats at any German-themed restaurant, or buy your own high-quality snags (and mustard) at German Butchery in Bexley North (german-butchery.com.au). In Melbourne, you can’t go past Bratwurst Shop & Co (bratwurstshop.com). Brisbane residents, try Brat Haus (brathaus.com.au).

Cook it Cook your bratwursts with sauerkraut following Adam Liaw’s recipe on Good Food.

One more thing 1954 marked a momentous occasion in the history of the bratwurst. That’s when Bill Sperling, an enterprising gent from Wisconsin, started selling “beer brats” at Major League Baseball games in Milwaukee. It would kick off an American bratwurst obsession – and link with baseball – that continues to this day.