BERLIN (AP) 鈥 Bite-sized bliss. The currywurst is considered a fast-food delicacy in Germany, and a perfect treat before a game.
UEFA has confirmed that soccer fans from across Europe will find this savory German invention on offer at stadiums throughout the country during the European Championship, which kicks off on Friday.
The pork sausage garnished with curry sauce is usually presented on a pristine white cardboard platter with a two-pronged plastic fork. It can be served with skin or without 鈥 visiting fans will have developed their own preference by the end of the month-long tournament.
While its origins are contested, the currywurst has a special place in the food culture of Berlin.
鈥淥ur city is all about currywurst, and I think our city can鈥檛 live without currywurst. Whoever comes to Berlin has to try currywurst to know what the city鈥檚 about,鈥 said Linda Konnopke, who helps run her family's popular fast-food joint in the German capital鈥檚 Prenzlauer Berg district.
Her great-grandparents Max and Charlotte Konnopke first began selling sausages from their portable grill in 1930, and the family-run business has since become an institution famous for its currywurst, which G眉nter Konnopke, their son, introduced to East Berlin in 1960. It was an immediate hit. The recipe is still a closely guarded family secret.
鈥淥ur absolute highlight is our currywurst without skin. That鈥檚 our biggest seller,鈥 Linda Konnopke said.
The currywurst is usually sliced into convenient bite-sized portions. It can be doused in ketchup and sprinkled with curry powder, but some vendors 鈥 like Konnopke鈥檚 鈥 will use their own specific curry sauce.
A woman named Herta Heuwer is largely credited with its invention. Heuwer was one of thousands of Berlin鈥檚 鈥淭r眉mmerfrauen,鈥 or rubble women, who helped clear the wreckage left after World War II, and afterward she ran her own fast-food business in the borough of Charlottenburg in the west of the city.
Some say Heuwer was bored one day and decided to experiment with the ingredients she had; others that she ran out of mustard and needed an alternative. Either way, she claimed to have invented the currywurst on Sept. 4, 1949.
Berlin proclaimed itself the 鈥渃urrywurst capital鈥 on a plaque honoring Heuwer where she sold her first currywurst, but there are rival claims from Hamburg and the Ruhr area in western Germany.
At the German Cup final in Berlin last month, Kaiserslautern fan Luisa Albert said she prefers the currywurst in Kaiserslautern, which is in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. As stadium food, she said, it鈥檚 always a winner.
鈥淐urrywurst is the best thing you can eat before a game,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t gives you the strength to cheer and celebrate and do everything.鈥
Fans attending games at Berlin鈥檚 Olympiastadion will be able to get their currywurst from Hertha Berlin supporter Ollie Brandt, who has been offering fast-food outside the stadium for more than 40 years.
Brandt takes great pride in offering currywurst sausages manufactured to another longstanding family recipe, but he doesn鈥檛 think much of currywurst from outside the capital.
鈥淚f you go to the Rhineland, for example, you get a grilled sausage that鈥檚 smeared with a sort of curry sauce sold as a currywurst. But that鈥檚 no currywurst,鈥 Brandt said as he held up a package of his own sausages. 鈥淭his here is a real currywurst.鈥
Brandt said fans would simply have to try the different types and styles to determine their favorite.
鈥淲e have I don鈥檛 know how many thousands of snack bars all over Berlin, East and West. Everyone does it differently. It doesn鈥檛 taste the same anywhere, but it鈥檚 still simply unique,鈥 Brandt said. 鈥淵ou have to try it.鈥
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