Name: Bavarian Weißwurst Breakfast
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Germany
Ingredients: 4 Weißwurst, about 100 g each, from a butcher, as fresh as possible; 2 large soft pretzels, Brezn, fresh from a bakery; 4 tbsp sweet Bavarian mustard, or coarse-grain mustard stirred with 2 tsp brown sugar; 2 tbsp butter, optional, for the pretzel; 2 bottles wheat beer, 500 ml each, optional; 2 liters water, for heating the sausages

Weißwurst is the white sausage of Bavaria, made from minced veal and pork fat seasoned with parsley, lemon and mild spices. It is a fresh sausage, with no smoking and no curing, and it is traditionally eaten as a late breakfast before noon, with a soft pretzel (Brezn), sweet mustard and often a wheat beer.

The one rule is never to boil it. Weißwurst is already scalded when you buy it, so you only need to heat it through in water just below a simmer, about 80°C (175°F), or the skin splits. Serve the sausages in a lidded bowl of the hot water to keep them hot at the table, and do not eat the casing.

For another German sausage with a very different character, try classic currywurst.

Bavarian Weißwurst Breakfast is one of the best breakfasts from around the world.

method

Pour the water into a large pot and heat until steaming with only tiny bubbles at the edge, about 80°C (175°F). Take it off the heat. The water must never reach a boil, or the sausage skins will burst.

Lower the sausages into the hot water, cover and let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes, until firm and hot all the way through (at least 70°C / 160°F inside).

While they heat, warm the pretzels on a rack in a 180°C (350°F) oven for about 5 minutes, until the crust is crisp and the salt crystals are warm.

If making your own sweet mustard, stir the brown sugar into the mustard until dissolved and spoon it into small dishes.

Ladle some of the hot (not boiling) cooking water into a warmed tureen or deep bowl, add the sausages and put the lid on. Serve with the pretzels, mustard, butter and beer.

To eat, cut a sausage lengthwise down the middle with a knife and fork and peel the meat out of the skin, then dip each piece in mustard. The old way is to suck the meat from the skin; the skin is not eaten.

chef's tips

Weißwurst is perishable. Buy it fresh, keep it cold, eat it by the use-by date and heat it once.
Do not microwave it or boil it: both split the skin and dry the sausage.
Skip the wheat beer if you like. Sparkling water and a strong coffee are common alternatives.