The exact date to when the Frankfurt sausage originated is unknown to historians, however it is widely believed that it has already been produced in medieval times. So is it known for example that the Frankfurt Sausage played a role in the crowning’s of the Emperors of the holy roman empire at the Frankfurt römer berg.
It is not known of what the original sausages have been comprised since it was not common to write recipes down during that time. But it was probably comprised of only pork meat since butchers were not allowed to use more than one kind of meet until the 1864.
The name Frankfurt Sausage (Frankfurter Würstchen) is protected since around 1860 as a geographical trade mark and can since 1929 only be assigned to sausages produced from certified butchers in the Frankfurt region, mainly in the suburban areas of Neu-Isenburg and Dreieich.
Outside of the Frankfurt area the name is not protected and doesn’t has to adhere to the same standards. The most common example would probably be the Wiener sausage (Wiener Würstchen), according to legends a German butcher from Frankfurt, by the name of Johann Georg Lahner, migrated to Vienna and sold the first Frankfurt sausage there in 1805.
Other than in Frankfurt the butchers in Vienna could use a mix from pork and beef, and so the wiener sausage (Wiener Würstchen) came to bee.
The modern-day Frankfurt sausage is comprised of thin parboiled pork meat in a casing of sheep intestine. After being parboiled the sausage is smoked to create its unique flavour.
Today the sausage is comely eaten hot, it will be reheated in hot water, not boiling to avoid the skin from opening, for about 6-8 minutes. After it will be served with bread and often potato salad and mustard.
The sausage can be bought in many places in a lot of different varieties Frankfurt and should be eaten at least once on you visit.
