Pinkel is a smoked Kaszanka (German: Grützwurst), a type of sausage which is eaten with kale (Grünkohl).^[1] It is eaten mainly in northwest Germany, especially the region around Oldenburg, Bremen and Osnabrück as well as in East Frisia and Friesland. Grünkohl mit Pinkel ("kale and pinkel") is a nourishing food which, in the form of a kale stew, has belly pork and other sausages added to it.

Origin of the name

The word Pinkel is East Frisian and probably derives from pink = 'little finger'. However, another explanation for the origin of the name is that this fatty sausage drips (German:pinkelt) with fat for a long time during smoking.

Local customs

The so-called Kohl-und-Pinkel-Touren ("kale and pinkel trips") or Kohlfahrten ("kale trips") by family, friends and acquaintances as well as employees and clubs are traditional winter excursions to country inns.

Ingredients

Pinkel consists mainly of bacon, groats of oats or barley, beef suet, pig lard, onions, salt, pepper and other spices. The exact composition of the recipe is guarded as a trade secret by the different butchers and therefore varies from village to village. Pinkel with a high meat content is also described as Fleisch-Pinkel ("meat pinkel") or Oldenburger Pinkel. Traditionally Pinkel is filled into the edible small intestines of pigs, although today edible artificial casings are also used.

See also

• List of smoked foods
• Food portal

References

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