When I think of New York City, I think of those big, warm soft pretzels you eat with sharp mustard! Yum! It’s my favorite New York snack.
When I think of Germany, it’s those little Schnell Imbiss (snack) stands where you can order my favorite German street food, Currywurst mit Kartoffelsalat. Oh, and a nice local lager to wash it down.
Typical of street food, it is simple, highly caloric, tasty, and not what the doctor ordered: a plump sausage smothered in a curry-flavored ketchup and a heaping serving of German-style potato salad.
I have no idea what kind of sausage those smooth, white Berlin-style sausages are, what I think of mostly when I think of Currywurst, but who cares when you can eat it made with a juicy Bratwurst as well? They are more substantial anyway, and street food is all about loading up!
Potato salad is simple to make with potatoes and whatever ingredients one has on hand. I like to make it with mayonnaise, dill weed, salt, and pepper. I might shred some carrot and add that for color, a little crunch, but it doesn’t affect the basic goodness of this favorite food. This is closer to what I remember about Schnell Imbiss stand potato salad than typical American style potato salad with chopped eggs, pickles, chopped onions, Miracle Whip, salt and pepper, maybe some plain old French’s yellow mustard for a little more piquancy.
However one makes potato salad, though, I love it!
Currywurst recipes on the Internet run the gamut. I suspect the curry sauce is like barbecue sauce over here: Everyone makes it using his Großmutter‘s secret family recipe. Everyone except people like me looking for a quick Currywurst fix. I bought some curry-flavored German ketchup off the Internet and some sharp German mustards I remember from my days stationed in Germany in the US Army: You can have your sausages both ways! I decided to have one Currywurst and one plain Bratwurst dipped in German mustard. Mmmm! A double treat! Filling! Worth the extra effort for a little authenticity!
Sorry about all those exclamation points, but I do like my Currywurst. That’s what I had for supper yesterday, though I cubed, boiled, and dressed potatoes with salt, pepper, dill weed, and butter instead of fixing potato salad. I boiled some peas toward the end with the potatoes. Mixed with the cubed potatoes, they added a bit of sanity to an otherwise unwise fat, sugar, and salt burdened meal.
I had plain ice water to drink, further penance for my indiscreet but tasty meal.
HELLO THERE,
I LIKE THOSE GERMAN SAUSAGES WHICH GO ROUND IN A CIRCLE,THEY SELL THEM HERE AND BOY ARE THEY YUM YUMMY
I’M NOT TOO FOND OF HIGHLY SALTED MEATS, BUT THAT’S WHERE THE CURRY KETCHUP COMES IN – IT’S VERY HIGH IN SUGAR! THE MUSTARD-SAUSAGE COMBINATION IS AN ANOMALY – TWO HEAVILY SALTED FOODS. I GUESS THE THING THAT MAKES IT PALATABLE TO ME IS THE PIQUANCY OF THE MUSTARD MODERATES THE SALTY SENSATION. THAT SAID, GERMAN SAUSAGES OF ALL VARIETIES ARE, INDEED, YUMMY!
Oh man I just gained 25 pounds reading this post!! Oh Yum!! 😛
What about poor fat me? I ate the darn things and I gained the 25 pounds! 🙂 Worse yet, I decided to make potato salad yesterday afternoon. It, of course, tastes better after it ages over night, so that’s on the agenda for the next batch of Currywurst mit…Kartofelsalat, my supper today!
In NYC, I was always partial to the roasted chestnuts – haven’t had any good ones since!!
I missed out on those. Of course, it may have been because of the time of year I visited, too (late spring, early summer).
Well, you got the pretzels and they are fantastic, I agree!
I especially liked to go to McSorley’s Tavern for a soft pretzel and beer.
Funny, my mother used to sing “McSorley’s Twins” all the time.
http://youtu.be/SeDvJmLu23c
I hoped there was a video of the song. Haven’t found it, but it seems familiar. Anyway, here’s a video about the resident poet of McSorley’s. Irish-style tavern for sure! Also, I got the name wrong: McSorley’s Old Ale House.
Author: ?
Copyright: ?
Mrs. McSorely had two little twins And two little darlins they were They kept bawlin and squalin the whole blessed night Had I mind her you I do declare. They kept bawlin and squaling the whole blessed night Like the sound of a fisherman’s horn Not a devil a wink any night have I slept Since the two little darlins were born Mr McSorely said a Christening we’ll have just to give the poor darlins a name, Said Mrs. McSorely a Christening we’ll have And a good one to be sure for the same. Well for godmothers May and Mag Murphy stood up And for godfathers came the two Flynns Dyanicious Ofya, Patricia Marya, were the names that they christened the twin. With the beer and the whiskey the whole blessed night We couldn’t stand up on our pins What an elegant time at the christening we had Of Mc Sorely’s two beautiful twins. Now Mr. Mc Sorely jumped up in a rage And threatend Mr Mullins his life He said Oh Mr Mullins, I’ll break the first man Who dare lay a hand on me wife. Now the Flynns and the Murphys they had an old grudge And the Murphys pitched into the Flynns They fought like the devil Turned over the beds Sure they smothered the two little twins. Oh with the beer and the whiskey the whole blessed night We couldn’t stand up on our pins. What an elegant time at the christening we had Of McSorely’s two beautiful twins.
I haven’t found a video yet – but here’s the words.
It sounds like a great song! I got the impression from what I could find on it that it is traditional. It definitely is a wonderful remembrance of your mother! My mother used to burst out in the “Barney Google” song so much that I included it in a memorial video we played at her memorial service. She approved of using it that way before she died, and those who viewed the video and knew my mother felt it was a perfect remembrance of a friend the knew for her wicked sense of humor!
http://youtu.be/3DG6hXziLPs
Oh, I remember it well!! All those oldies…Red Hot Mamma; Barefoot Days, etc. Thanks for the videos! McSorley’s Twins was an old Irish song.
I love the music of the early 20th Century, especially hot Jazz like Armstrong and Beiderbecke played. I don’t have much in my CD collection that isn’t from the Baroque through Early Romantic periods, but a lot of what is there is Jazz from the early times.