Fierce Foodie: Back from Berlin

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a blogumn by Roya Hamadani

Recently I visited a friend in Berlin, a place where plate sized pastries studded with cherries and covered in streusel topping can be found every twenty feet or so.  You could use these things for frisbees, that’s how big they are.  The sight of the glass bakery case filled with such frosted treasures made me inwardly shudder with anticipation.  I couldn’t even take a picture before having a bite.  That’s because unlike our pastry which can be tough and bland, the pastry in Berlin is made with more creamy, tasty, fresh butter than is healthy or decent.  And I have a severe lack of impulse control when it comes to baked goods.  It’s a condition, okay?

What I was surprised to discover is that the favorite street food of Berlin is not a confection but a concoction called currywurst.  I guess I never thought of curry and pork sausage as a potential taste combination.  This quick dish of sliced pork sausage, tomato paste and curry powder served in a bun or with fries is so identified with the city that I was even able to buy a marzipan replica complete with tiny fork.  While the street version is a relatively small snack size, the portion I was served at a restaurant was a monster sausage drowning in a sweet ketchup-like sauce and sprinkled with curry powder.  Did I clean my plate?  Do you really need to ask?

It is surprisingly satisfying and a heck of a lot easier to pull off than a streusel pastry.  Check out the recipe after the jump. You can make a quick American version at home using kielbasa.

From AllRecipes.com submitted by JenFen

Ingredients:
3 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 pound kielbasa
2 tablespoons chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon onion salt 1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pinch paprika
Curry powder to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to Broil/Grill.
2. Pour tomato sauce into a large saucepan, then stir in the chili sauce, onion salt, sugar and pepper. Let simmer over medium heat, occasionally stirring; bring to a gentle boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer another 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, broil/grill kielbasa sausage for 3 to 4 minutes each side, or until cooked through. Slice into pieces 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick, or leave whole but cut slits into it to let the sauce inside, it’s up to you. 
4. Pour tomato sauce mixture over sausage, then sprinkle all with paprika and curry powder and serve with fries.  Add a cold (or lukewarm beverage depending on which side of the pond you’re from) and relax!