A Vienna sausage (german: Wiener Würstchen, Wiener;

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city * Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance * V ...

Austrian German Austrian German (german: Österreichisches Deutsch), Austrian Standard German (ASG), Standard Austrian German (), or Austrian High German (), is the variety of Standard German written and spoken in Austria. It has the highest sociolinguistic p ...

: ''Frankfurter Würstel'' or ''Würstl''; Swiss German: ''Wienerli''; Swabian: ''Wienerle'' or ''Saitenwurst'') is a thin parboiled sausage traditionally made of

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

and

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...

in a casing of

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

's intestine, then given a low temperature

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...

. The word ''Wiener'' is German for ''

''. In Austria, the term "Wiener" is uncommon for this food item, which instead is usually called ''Frankfurter Würstl''.

Europe

In some European countries, cooked and often smoked wiener sausages bought fresh from

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

delicatessen Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...

s and

butcher shops A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishm ...

may be called by a name (such as in German or French) which translates in English as "Vienna sausage." Traditionally, they are made from cured pork, but in Eastern and Southern Europe, sausages made from chicken or turkey are more common; these are also sold in places with a significant population of people who do not eat pork for religious reasons. Wieners sold in Europe have a taste and texture very much like North American

hot dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced Hot dog bun, bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener (Vienna sausag ...

s, but are usually longer and somewhat thinner, with a very light, edible casing. European Vienna sausages served hot in a long bun with

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific Flavoring, flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is serv ...

s are often called "hot dogs," referring to the long sandwich as a whole. A spiced, paprika-rich look-alike of Vienna sausage is known as

debrecener A debrecener ( hu, debreceni kolbász, german: Debre(c)ziner, it, Salsiccia di Debrecen) is a pork sausage of uniform fine texture and reddish-orange colour, named after the Hungarian city of Debrecen. The sausages are heavily spiced with papr ...

North America

After having been brought to North America by European immigrants, "Vienna sausage" came to mean only smaller and much shorter smoked and canned wieners, rather than link sausage, beginning about 1903. However, they have no federal standard of identity. North American vienna sausages are made similarly to pork wieners, finely ground to a paste consistency and mixed with salt and various spices, such as cloves,

coriander Coriander (;

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

garlic powder Garlic powder is a spice that is derived from dehydrated garlic and used in cooking for flavour enhancement. The process of making garlic powder includes drying and dehydrating the vegetable, then powdering it through machinery or home-based app ...

onion powder Onion powder is dehydrated, ground onion that is commonly used as a seasoning. It is a common ingredient in seasoned salt and spice mixes, such as beau monde seasoning. Some varieties are prepared using toasted onion. White, yellow and red onions ...

and finely ground, dry red pepper. The sausages are stuffed into a long casing, sometimes smoked, always thoroughly cooked and beginning in the 1950s, the casings were removed. The sausages are cut into short segments for canning and cooking. They are available plain (in gelatin, similar to

aspic Aspic or meat jelly () is a savory gelatin made with a meat stock or broth, set in a mold to encase other ingredients. These often include pieces of meat, seafood, vegetable, or eggs. Aspic is also sometimes referred to as ''aspic gelée'' or ' ...

) or with a variety of flavorings, such as

smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-product ...

, mustard, chili, or barbecue sauces. Consumption of Vienna sausages peaked in the 1940s to 1970s but has declined since then.

References

External links

* {{Sausage Canned meat Austrian sausages German sausages Smoked meat American cuisine Cooked sausages

Europe

North America

See also

References

External links