Scarywurst museum!

Those of you who have been reading Chez Pim for a while might remember that, last February when I was visiting the German Boy in Heidelberg, currywurst was part of my cultural education. I called it Scarywurst, but many Germans love it so, there's even a movie made about it.

Currywurst is one of those food quirks that every culinary culture has. In this case, for the Germans, especially Berliners, the quirk takes the form of a perfectly good wurst, freshly cooked so the skin snaps like only German wursts could, cut up into small pieces, doused liberally with curry powder and eaten with ketchup -with a plastic fork and on a paper plate, no less- and often with a side of fries, or sometimes on top of a pile of fries.

To add insult to injury, sometimes the wurst itself comes flavored with curry powder, and as if ketchup alone isn't enough, some places actually smother the entire thing in dark gravy. Ick.

Sounds like a perfectly good wurst spoiled, doesn't it? But frankly, I must say that the one I had wasn't so bad at all. The curry powder had a weirdly sandy mouthfeel, but it really wasn't such a bad flavor.

Oh well, whatever I think of the thing, the Germans seem to be proud enough of this to actually build a museum for it. Yes, ladies and gentleman, the wurst museum in the world. Fifteen hundred square meters of all things Scarywurst, detailing everything from origins, history, recipes, to cultural value or these strange wursts.

The museum is slated to open in 2006, and plans to accommodate more than 350,000 visitors a year. Whatdayaknow, they may be on to something!

Comments

[mike]

i'd be terrified to eat one of those. i hate the gritty texture and uncooked flavor of curry powder. and i also hate ketchup. gross

[purple]

Ooooh, I love currywurst! When I lived in Berlin it was a staple!! Yummy!!!

[rich]

Finally, something more disgusting than poutine. Ick and (dou)ble-ick.

[Pim]

Oh no rich, never. Apology to my Canadian readers but I think Poutine can keep the prize.

Mike, it's actually less disgusting than it looked, though not by all that much. Ha.

cheers,
Pim

[Akiko]

Hey you,

How timely, I was just in Berlin this past weekend and sampled some currywurst for myself! It actually wasn't bad, in fact, we decided that if they would actually serve it in some nice bread (instead of the soggy fries we got with it) it'd be quite good. Our sampling happened at Witty's - the organic stand across the street from KaDeWe. I'm convinced that theirs is probably better than the bog standard stands you see everywhere else!

[Pim]

Aki-chan,

But I thought the bog standard bit was sort of the point of it all, no? I will give that stand a try next time I have the happy opportunity to be in Berlin.

cheers,
Pim

[Gunter]

Am flying to Germany in August, guess what I am looking forward to.... Yes! Currywurst and a Mas Bier!

[Georgie]

I went to school in Munich, and it was love at first bite! Gigi's wurst stand in the Marienplatz stakes the bun on a heated spike, add currylicious ecoutrements and wurst, and off you go with your leak-proof snack. Is that soooo wrong?

[Georgie]

I guess I should go back to school. The curried accoutrements were still tasty!

[Salapao]

Ok, here's the deal: you have to try Currywurst with "Pommes rot-weiss" (red and white fries), that's fries with ketchup and mayonnaise. Sounds disgusting? Maybe. But it's one of the things I try to get whenever I return back to Germany.

If you ever go to Berlin, get your currywurst at an "Imbiss" called "Curry 36" on Mehringdamm in Kreuzberg district. This one is said to serve the best currywurst in Berlin.

http://www.inyourpocket.com/germany/berlin/en/venue?id=GEBNENX0896

Directions: http://www.berliner-stadtplan.com/topic/bln/str/x_wgs/23.21/y_wgs/29.63/from/form.html
Or check it out at Google Earth

[Eric]

Never 'knock' a good curry wurst. As a poorly paid US soldier stationed in Berlin from '71-73', it was considered good eating. If we wanted to impress our dates we'd take them to an Imbis and order the finest curry wurst with pomme frits and mayo.