# German Bratwurst (sausage)?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2007, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bratwurst-sausage/392172 "2007-02-14T10:14:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bratwurst-sausage/392172/42 "2011-10-01T15:26:40Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Can anyone confirm or deny? The Italian descended Americans at the table were all nodding as if this was common knowledge, and he’s a fantastic cook, so I’m inclined to believe him, but it’s the first I’ve heard of it. I always find sausage pizza disgusting with fennel, so I assumed that’s how Italian sausage was, but recently my wife bought some actual Italian sausage at Costco and it was great. Certainly no fennel, but not exactly Polish either. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bratwurst-sausage/392172/43 "2011-10-01T16:15:01Z")
Weisswurst and bratwurst are the same thing. Bratwurst is cooked/grilled. Weisswurst is boiled. This is QFT from my german MIL. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bratwurst-sausage/392172/44 "2011-10-01T16:17:00Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > I always find sausage pizza disgusting with fennel, so I assumed that’s how Italian sausage was, but recently my wife bought some actual Italian sausage at Costco and it was great. Certainly no fennel, but not exactly Polish either. I once heard on NPR, I think, that the “Italian sausage” that is used as a pizza topping in the U.S, and eaten with sausage-and-peppers, is just one particular regional variety of sausage that uses fennel and anise, but there are plenty of other kinds of Italian sausage. Does anyone know the proper Italian name of the stuff we call “Italian sausage” here? (Any and all conceivable combinations of Italian names with dick jokes will be taken as stipulated, thank you very much.) ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bratwurst-sausage/392172/45 "2011-10-02T13:09:29Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Weisswurst and bratwurst are the same thing. Bratwurst is cooked/grilled. Weisswurst is boiled. No they are not. They are both sausages in the sense of meat being filled into an intestine. But Weisswurst can only be boiled, it would split if grilled. And Bratwurst means grilled. So saying [Weisswurst](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weisswurst)is a grilled sausage only it’s not grilled is not a useful usage of definitions. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bratwurst-sausage/392172/46 "2011-10-02T13:54:09Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > No they are not. They are both sausages in the sense of meat being filled into an intestine. But Weisswurst can only be boiled, it would split if grilled. And Bratwurst means grilled. > > So saying [Weisswurst](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weisswurst)is a grilled sausage only it’s not grilled is not a useful usage of definitions. AFAIK weisswurst is always veal. And besides the method of preparation, even the appearance, feel and taste of weisswurst are different from any bratwurst I’ve had (though I admit that since my mother is from Franconia, 90% of the time we have Nuernberger brats, so I haven’t tried a lot of different kinds). We always have curry ketchup at hand, and it definitely doesn’t taste like regular ol’ ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bratwurst-sausage/392172/47 "2011-10-02T14:04:27Z")
Also, weisswurst, as I’ve encountered it both in Germany and in the States, is always an emulsified sausage. Bratwurst is usually not. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bratwurst-sausage/392172/48 "2011-10-02T17:29:34Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Also, weisswurst, as I’ve encountered it both in Germany and in the States, is always an emulsified sausage. Bratwurst is usually not. How can you tell the difference? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bratwurst-sausage/392172/49 "2011-10-02T17:47:56Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > How can you tell the difference? Texture. You know how hot dogs and bologna is completely smooth and uniform on the inside? That’s an emulsified sausage. You know how Italian sausage and most brats have identifiable chunks of meat and fat in them? Those are not emulsified. Emulsified simply means it’s processed into a homogenous paste before stuffing. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bratwurst-sausage/392172/50 "2011-10-02T17:59:47Z")
Years ago I had Weisswurst that was really great. I don’t remember where I got it/ate it. Every time I’ve tried it within recent memory, I don’t care for it all that much. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bratwurst-sausage/392172/51 "2011-10-02T18:18:35Z")
I love weisswurst, but only for breakfast, and only on weekends. It brings back memories of my dad bringing home these big, fat veal _parówki_, a Polish weisswurst-type sausage that wasn’t white, but with a similar texture and eaten the same way. You would boil them, then peel them away from their skins an eat them with sweet mustard (or, when I was a kid, ketchup.) And some toast. They are totally a breakfast food. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bratwurst-sausage/392172.md?page=2)