Everyone knows that Germans make great wurst, or sausages. But what exactly is currywurst?

Currywurst in not simply a sausage. It is a grilled bratwurst or knockwurst, drenched in a delectable curry ketchup sauce, and topped with a dusting of curry powder. The wurst is often cut into pieces before serving using a special machine and is then served on a flimsy paper plate-style dish with a little plastic or wooden fork. Traditionally, it is eaten with pommes (fries) or broetchen (a bread roll) to soak up the sauce. As simple as it sounds, currywurst is arguably one of the most popular snack foods or fast foods in Germany.

You can find currywurst just about anywhere in Germany. Typically, you buy it at a snack or take-away stand called an imbiss. An imbiss often has tall tables in front so that you have somewhere to stand while you eat.

The secret to a good currywurst

� is of course the curry ketchup sauce. You can buy curry ketchup in the grocery store in Germany. Hela makes a good curry ketchup and it can usually be purchased online from an American distributor of all things ketchup. You could also try to experiment at home with various curries and spices � then you can make it to taste of course.

The average imbiss probably does not make its own sauce. However, two very popular establishments that have their own secret curry sauces are Konnopke�s and Curry 36 in Berlin. Both are very well-known and are sought out by locals and visitors alike.

The controversial origins of currywurst

Ask any Berliner and they will tell you that currywurst was invented in Berlin by accident by Helga Heuwer in 1949 and that she patented her secret curry sauce recipe some years later. But according to Uwe Timm, a native of Hamburg, currywurst was invented there by Lena Brueker at the end of WWII. I doubt this controversy will ever be resolved. Lucky for us, though, currywurst was invented!

Day or night, when a �klein hunger� stikes

There are some who say that currywurst is unhealthy and not very tasty. There are others who ask, and perhaps not too nicely, what Germans know about curry anyway. Speaking from experience, I love a good currywurst. Not every day, not even every week. But there are moments when it is the perfect snack food: While walking down the Haupstrasse shopping, while waiting between trams for my connection, or after a night out on the town sampling some excellent German beers.

Currywurst is tasty, convenient, and fairly cheap. Currywurst with pommes will run you somewhere around 3.50 euros depending on where you are. You may pay more if you are at an event such as a German fest or concert.

My advice is to try a currywurst at least once. Give it a go. If nothing else, you will have experienced something that millions of Germans and visitors love to eat.