Kalbsbratwurst – the famous veal sausage from St Gallen
Well, here I am in Switzerland, on 1 August, Swiss National Day, and a friend has been kind enough to donate some genuine Kalbsbratwurst to the culinary coffers.
The word ‘genuine’ is important because in 2007 it was awarded PGI (go to this link to see a full explanation) but it needs to be made in a certain way; also unlike most sausages which contain bread Kalbsbratwurst can only contain veal, a little bacon and some fresh milk; and it must come from a clearly defined geographic region in St Gallen (it’s in the North-East of Switzerland, not far from Austria).
It’s very traditional to serve Kalbsbratwurst on Swiss National Day, crisped up on a ridged barbeque grill and served with a Bürli roll…. some thick, glossy brown gravy, and fried onions.
What is a Bürli roll? Well, these come also from St Gallen. They’re large, crumbly, crunchy, slightly crisp and they go very well with the Kalbsbratwurst.
Other successful accompaniments might be mustard (frankly, they are a bit bland as sausages go); or, again, authentically, a rich onion sauce and/or rösti.
They’re good with red cabbage.
However – in my opinion the best way to eat them is to cut them completely in half, and make a sandwich of them with the cheese in the middle. Then wrap them in bacon, grill or griddle, and serve with the onion sauce.
Go here for how to make the onion sauce. Serve with a roll.
