The Bockwurst

One of the early signs of spring in the Amana Colonies is the making of the Bockwurst at the Amana Meat Market. It is an award winning sausage that some refer to as Easter Sausage as it is only available during Lenten season up to Easter. 

Bockwurst is a German sausage first mentioned in 1827 in Bavaria area of Germany.  An urban legend in Berlin claims that it was invented in 1889 by restaurant owner R. Scholtz of Berlin. It is one of the most popular varieties of delicious sausages in Germany, a source of much national pride and now found in many areas of the USA. Traditionally made of finely ground pork, veal, spices, and love, the Bockwurst is unlike the Bratwurst in that it contains a higher ratio of veal in its recipe. There are many variations of it in Germany but usually served with the spring release of dark Bock beer.  So good...

Since 1856 Bockwurst has been made in the Amana Colonies using an award winning recipe that includes pork sausage, ground spices, and fresh green chives from garden beds. It is sold at the Amana Meat shop by the pound. 

A traditional family German Bockwurst recipe is as follows:

400 g pork butter, trimmed

100 g back fat

100 g pork belly

18 g kosher salt

6 g onion powder

3 g white pepper

2 g sweet paprika

.5 g ginger

1 g nutmeg

1g whole coriander

1 g celery seed

1 tsp lemon zest

1 egg

100 ml whole milk

Grind all the meats, add egg, milk, spices into a food processor 30 sec. Stuff meat into standard 28-32 mm hog casings forming 4" links. Refrigerate up to 3 days, freeze 3 months. 

This recipe is for 2.2 lbs or 7 links but you can easily scale to suit your needs. Recipe can be doubled. Guten Apetit and Brost!

photos by friends