German Sausage and Meat Shops Closing
Often when my international students refer to German sausage, they only think of Wiener Würstchen (Wieners), Bratwurst, and other image-related meat cuts. Hardly anyone knows about German cold cuts as this is typically German and usually accompanied by rye or dark bread.
The other day my husband and I stepped into one of the last remaining meat shops in Oberursel. I say last remaining shop, because nowadays a shop cannot sustain itself without offering other goods, such as cheese, catering-service, wine, dry goods, etc.
The days of specializing in one product only are gone and this shop, as a neighbor told me, is about to close. I find this to be the end of another era, when these kind of shops get replaced by all-round shops for reasons of shopper convenience and a store’s sustainability. Shops have to diversify these days and promote more than one kind of product.
Blood sausage and other cold cuts
This shop in downtown Oberursel had the best Leberkäs Brötchen, which is another type of cold cut, but served hot on a bread roll. We would eat it sitting on a bench in front of the next-door church and watch people passing by. What bliss!
Seeing all these bloody cold cuts in the window also reminded me of my time growing up when we butchered a pig every November. The butcher would fill the thoroughly cleaned pig’s bladder with blood and other fillings and hang it up to dry somewhere in the cellar.
Anyway, these types of cold cuts are something genuinely German, but I also believe that most of its consumers are ranging from baby boomers to senior citizens. Fast-food chains and other ethnic food establishments have taken on the younger generations, which might also be the reason for their closing shop.
Reminds me of this silly German song: Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei. Jawohl, mein Schatz, es ist vorbei from youtube (Everything has one end, but the sausage has two. That’s right, my dear, it is over)
Tags: blood sausage, cold cuts, meat shops
March 27th, 2010 at 8:18 am
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