The History of the Famous Curry Sausage

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Today is Currywurst Tag/Curry Sausage Day, and if you never tried one, then you missed out on one of the best fast foods there is and I have tried many, so you can trust me on this.

The Currywurst/Curry Sausage is not just a brat with curry, no it’s so much more than this. To be honest, at first, I didn’t want to try one either, it just didn’t sound right. “Hot Dogs?” Yes, they make sense. A sausage on a piece of bread, drained in mustard and ketchup, perhaps with some onions and sauerkraut. Anytime!

But pieces of brats with yellow curry powder? Nope, I wouldn’t try it.

But as so often, curiosity killed the cat. In 1987, we went to a Christmas market somewhere at Lake Constance in the South of Germany. I had worked there for about four weeks and on our day off we finally got to see a bit of the city. A small group of people, translators, and interpreters from all over the world bundled up in the wintertime, and we started exploring.

One of the guys insisted that we stop at a Wurstbude -something like a food truck- and by then we were all hungry -and tired of seasonal Christmas sweets- so we agreed.

Our colleague ordered for us and when I got a paper plate with French Fries (Pommes Frites) and a cut-up brat drenched in ketchup that had been generously sprinkled with curry, I just knew this would be a one-night stand. I would take a bite and leave the rest.

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I searched for the mayonnaise for my French Fries, because if you travel the world you pick up a few bad habits -or two- and then very hesitant I put my little wooden fork in a piece of sausage.

And so a love affair began. I wasn’t hooked at first bite, but had to eat more. There was something about the taste that made me have another bite -and another and for the rest of my stay I somehow always found a way back to the little food truck.

Back home in the US I wanted to make the dish for my husband, but it just didn’t taste right. The sauce wasn’t ketchup, there was something missing, and I decided to find out what it was. Long before the internet was created I set out to find the secrets for a good German Curry Sausage and while at it, I learned everything about the famous German fast food.

According to the Berlin Currywurst Museum -yes, there was a museum, but sadly it closed in 2018- about 800 million curry sausages are consumed in Germany every year. In this respect, it is not surprising that there is a national Currywurst Day/Curry Sausage Day. Why this is so and why today’s date was chosen, let me try to explain.

The story behind the currywurst is an interesting one with all the hallmarks of a movie, and yet Hollywood has not picked up the tale… yet. It all started in 1949 in a ruined and destroyed Berlin that was struggling to rebuild after World War II. Money was tight, as were most supplies, but people carried on.

A woman named Herta Heuwer lived in West Berlin, where she led a relatively normal life. One day, she received some food rations from an English soldier, some ketchup, spices, and Worcestershire sauce, none of it special on its own but revolutionary when brought together. 

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Heuwer, who was born in Königsberg (East Prussia) in 1913, began experimenting with the ingredients in her snack bar on the corner of Kant-/Kaiser-Friedrich-Street. She mixed freshly cut parsley, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, and spices into a sauce, which she poured over a chopped boiled skinless sausage. This is said to have been the birth of the currywurst we know today. Legend has it that she invented the currywurst on September 4, 1949.

Heuwer perfected her sauce and started selling it together with boiled or fried sausage to local construction workers. This cheap but filling and above all tasty meal sold well, and the popularity of the Currywurst grew. At her peak, Heuwer sold over 10,000 servings per week and she patented the sauce (which she called Chillup), so that her competitors had to pay her. 

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She became an incredibly successful businesswoman in her time and a famous Berliner. Though today none of her shops or stands remain, a few years after Heuwer’s death in 1999 this plaque was put in place at the site of her facility on Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße.

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Besides her name, the inscription reads: “Her idea is a tradition and an eternal pleasure.”

How to make the famous Curry Sausage?

The original recipe is unknown, Hertha destroyed it in the 70’s and took her secret to her grave.

However recipes can be found online and in cookbooks around the world, and while they all might be different, some of them come pretty close to the Chillup Sauce I tried so many years ago. The sauce has to taste fruity and spicy.

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Curry Sausage Sauce

1 lb Tomatoes/Ketchup/Tomato Sauce
1/2 onion finely chipped (optional)
2 TBS Honey
3 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar (Balsamic works as well)
1 1/2 TBS Instant Vegetable Broth Powder or Vegetable Cube
1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
1 TBS Curry Powder
1 Tsp Paprica powder
2 dashes Tabasco

Simmer on the stove until it’s thick and alter the recipe to your taste!

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After cooking to your liking, cut the German brat or Polish sausage into slices, pour the warmed-up sauce over it, and sprinkle with extra curry powder.

Serve with good French Fries or a crispy Kaiseroll.

Just like the British Fish and Chips, the Italian Street pizza, the American Hamburger, the Greek Gyro, or the French Crepes. You have to try it to judge it!

It’s worth it!