Your Guide to Weißwurst (Munich White Sausage)
ACHTUNG! The many complexities of the infamous Munich white sausage.
In Munich, we love rules – almost as much as we love enforcing rules. In fact, if you haven’t been yelled at, or at least received one piercing glare of disapproval from a local, well, then you haven’t really had the full, authentic Munich experience.
What are all these mysterious rules regulating social faux pas, you ask? There are definitely too many to list off in one mere mortal’s blog post, but just know that these (un)official regulations extend to pretty much every aspect of Munich life. Did you stand too close to a bike lane? Yep, you definitely got an earful, that is, if you didn’t get killed in the process. Did you greet your neighbor with “Hello” instead of “Happy New Year” on January 1? How dare you! Or did you visit a restaurant famous for schnitzel and you didn’t actually order the schnitzel? The horror…
The culinary scene in Munich is one particular area that is rife with rules that many an unsuspecting tourist is unknowingly likely to break. However, no other food item in this city has quite the number of complexities as our beloved Münchner Weißwurst.
Chances are, if you did even a little bit of research before embarking on your trip to Munich, you read about the infamous Munich white sausage. The original Munich white sausage is not the prettiest of Bavarian delicacies. Its stark, white color is probably not going to inspire many appetizing feelings in first-timers, but rather, at best, feelings of intrigue, and at worst, feelings of revulsion. The fact that these weird-looking sausages are proudly served in a pot of tepid water is certainly not helping their image. Trust us, though – they are actually delicious! And, truly, the most authentic culinary experience you can have on your trip to Munich is a hearty local breakfast of two white sausages, a pretzel, and a wheat beer.
It wasn’t always like this, though. Relatively speaking, the Munich white sausage is a fairly young gastronomical icon. Invented in 1857, the white sausage burst onto the Munich culinary scene by sheer accident. Due to Munich’s love of rules and regulations, this isn’t actually surprising, as most new things in this city do tend to happen accidentally.
As the story goes, this beloved breakfast food was invented by a man named Sepp Moser, who was preparing sausages for a big feast on the Sunday before Lent. Sepp, in very un-Bavarian fashion, didn’t plan his day with the structure and efficiency that we have come to expect (nay, demand) from everyone in town, and he actually ran out of the thick sausage casings needed to serve the sausages to his guests – gasp! Since shops and merchants are closed on Sundays, Sepp had to swallow his pride and do things a different way; reluctantly stuffing his sausage meat into some of the thinner casings he already had lying around the kitchen. Fearing that the sausages would burst open in their thin casings on the grill, he made the ingenious decision to boil the sausages instead, which is how the white sausages maintain their distinctive, snow-white color, and why they are still served in a pot of water today.
Naturally, though, Sepp’s patrons were not very impressed with him when they first laid eyes upon this historic meal. You can be sure that Sepp endured his own fair share of piercing stares of disapproval, and likely had a steady parade of 19th century karens storming the kitchen to complain about the worst wurst they had ever seen. However, once cooler heads prevailed, and his guests realized that if they didn’t eat that creepy-looking white sausage, they wouldn’t be eating that day, they reluctantly tried it. And, guess what? It was the greatest, sweetest, best, most-awesome sausage they EVER had – now the official sausage of the city of Munich!
So, let that be a lesson to all of you kids out there – never be afraid to try something new! But if you are still a bit nervous about navigating the gastronomical scene in Munich on your own, then you can join us on our Lunch Like A Local: The ORIGINAL Viktualienmarkt Food Tour PLUS – we’ll be your guide!
For those of you who think you are ready to take on the Weißwurst Challenge all by yourself, then there are a few rules you really need to know to avoid being the laughing stock of your Bavarian breakfast buffet:
Rule #1 – Don’t eat the skin! However, if you already ate the skin, don’t worry – it won’t kill you. Well, the skin is perfectly edible, but you still might die of shame and embarrassment. Fun Fact: the traditionalists don’t even use a knife and fork to eat their white sausage - they simply suck the meat out of its casing! No, you aren’t expected to do that, but it does make a great photo op.
Rule #2 – Use the correct mustard! Using anything but the original Munich white sausage mustard on your original Munich white sausage is sure to bring about a tsunami of ridicule and maybe even the apocalypse. The Original Münchner Weißwurst Senf is a sweet mustard that perfectly complements the delicate flavors of the white sausage. Save the yellow mustard for your bratwursts – or else!
Rule #3 – Don’t order it after 12pm! The Munich white sausage is intended as a breakfast food and ordering it after 12pm is just plain wrong. This rule is actually really helpful in identifying local tourist traps. If you see Weißwurst on a menu being offered until 11:30 or 12pm, congratulations, this is probably a great restaurant! 2:30-3pm? Ehhh, it could be worse. However, if you see Weißwurst on a dinner menu, just turn around and get out of there – don’t even bother finishing your beer!
Just remember these three simple rules and you’ll be ready to master your first breakfast in Munich!
Good Luck and Guten Appetit!