Pegnitz on Sunday morning in Wiesweiher Park. An Irish Wolfhound lies in the sun and enjoys a piece of sausage that has just fallen to the ground. Barbecue smoke envelops the park in white clouds, and the smell of bratwurst smells everywhere. It is the eleventh Pegnitz bratwurst summit, nine butchers put almost 20 different varieties on the grill.
It is a festival dedicated solely to bratwurst, held by the association for the promotion of Franconian bratwurst culture. For the organizer Michael Breitenfelder, a bratwurst is more than finely chopped meat with spices. It is a piece of Franconian identity. The Middle Franconians have the city of Nuremberg, the Lower Franconians have their wine and the Upper Franconians have their beer, he lists. “But what unites us all is the Franconian bratwurst.”
What’s doing particularly well this year is the vegan bratwurst, says Mayor Wolfgang Nierhoff: “Every sixth bratwurst that is sold here is vegan.” He says it tastes very good, but it can’t quite be compared to a meat bratwurst. The texture, the taste, the consistency, none of this comes close to the Franconian original.
An original like the Winzerbratwurst from the Deininger butcher shop. “Nutmeg, pepper, lots of marjoram” are included, as master butcher Stephan Jamm explains, “and a few other secret ingredients”. And the sheep’s mushroom intestine is an important ingredient. This gives the sausage a good bite. Jamm’s sausage was chosen as the best variety in the “classic bratwurst” category by a jury in a blind tasting on Sunday.
13 members from local politics and trades sit on the jury, and even a guest butcher from the North Sea is allowed to taste. Appearance and taste are assessed.
The prize for the best “creative sausage” goes to the Kachler-Hoferer butcher shop from Sugenheim in Middle Franconia: the “Meat Night”, a version with mountain cheese, peppers, blue poppy seeds and anise that bursts juicy when you bite into it. Dirk Freyberger from Nuremberg will be the bratwurst king and crowd favorite of around 15,000 visitors. He wins the overall ranking in both the “classic” and “creative” bratwurst categories.
Another special feature of the summit: the friendship sausage of the cities of Pegnitz and Hof. It was created by the citizens of the two cities. The citizens wanted it to be clearly seasoned with a lot of marjoram, and also to contain savoy cabbage, which would make it juicier and, because it takes at least two for a friendship, it should only be available in a double pack.
In total, around 900 kilograms of sausage are consumed on the Bratwurst Summit. The patron of the event, Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), apologized once again. Although he doesn’t miss the opportunity to take bratwurst photos.