Make room for these German sausages

German sausages

Pop quiz: What do Prince Charles, Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Caine share in common? All three love to indulge in sausages; so, if you happen to fall in the same category, don't miss out on authentic German home-made sausages by Charcuterie expert, Hans Hartman. We signed up for this gastronomical journey that proved to be educational as much as it was lip-smackingly good.

Pic/Sameer Markande

Hartman, with over 45 years of experience in countries like Germany, Egypt, Switzerland, The Philippines, Spain, Tanzania, Syria, Ethiopia and China, is a name to reckon with in the international meat production field. His flavoured, home-styled cold cuts range from a mix of chicken to pork and beef.

"According to me, European sausages are going to be the future in India. Indians are travelling far and wide nowadays, and during their trips, try different cuisines. Now, they want the same dishes back home. Hence, food items like sausages are becoming popular in India," believes the German Charcuterie expert, slipping in a trivia nugget that there are over 500 kinds of sausages made in Germany. He has handpicked 16 of these delights for Mumbai's meat-loving foodies.

Till July 31 (post this date, only retail items will be available)
At Artisan, Sofitel, C-57 Block G, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (E). CALL 33487847

Charcuterie expert Hans Hartman preparing the sausage salad. Pics/Sameer Markande

Time frame
Hans Hartman reveals that the time to make a home-styled sausage depends on the kind of sausage being made. If the meat is ready, it takes just 15 to 20 minutes to cook it and then, all you have to do is to allow it to cool and store it. The big ones take 3 hours to be cooked. On the other hand, cured and smoked sausages take 3-4 weeks to be ready before it can be consumed.

Cook sausages at home
>> Quality of the meat
>> The right spices (Hartman has used spices like cinnamon, mace, cardamom, clove, etc)
>> Hygiene
>> Preservation agents like nitrate and sulphate to hold the colour of the sausage
>> Correct amount of curing salts

Try these at home

Currywurst, served with Potato Salad & Sauerkraut

Ingredients
>> Currywurst sausages (made of pork leg, pork fat, buffalo, bacon, ice, salt, curry powder, spices and natural sheep casing)

For Sauerkraut
>> 2 kg cabbage
>> 500 gm onion
>> 25 gm juniper berries
>> 60 ml white wine vinegar
>> 80 ml white vinegar
>> 250 gm bacon
>> 15 ml oil
>> Salt

Potato Salad
>> 1 kg potato
>> Mustard
>> 5 gm parsley
>> 30 gm bacon
>> 25 gm onion
>> 15 gm gherkins
>> 10 gm garlic
>> 10 ml oil
>> Salt

Method
For Sauerkraut
Heat oil, add chopped bacon. Saute the onions. Add the berries and cabbage. Add salt and cook on low flame with the lip on top and add white wine. Induce white wine vinegar and white vinegar. Add seasoning to taste.

For Potato Salad
Bake potato in the oven, take out to de-skin it. Heat the pan and put some oil, add garlic and bacon. Saute for a while. Add onions till it becomes translucent. Add crushed de-skinned potatoes, chopped gherkins, parsley and mustard. Mix well and add salt to taste.

For Currywurst
Pan fry the sausages and serve with potato salad and sauerkraut.

Sausage Salad

Ingredients
>> Slices of chicken meat loaf
>> Sliced onions
>> Olive oil
>> Mustard dressing
>> Swiss cheese
>> Chopped parsley
>> Roasted pepper
>> Salt

Method
Take the slices of the chicken meat loaf in a bowl and add olive oil, mustard dressing and onions, and mix well. Next, add all the remaining ingredients to the mix, except for the cheese, and mix again. In the end, garnish with cheese.