There is no match for the "Thüringer Rostbratwurst", a grilled sausage spiced with marjoram which is a barbecue favorite and just as popular as hotdogs in the USA. In 2003, the name became an EU-protected designation. Bratwurst-lovers can visit the the 1st German Bratwurstmuseum in Thuringia. Another distinctive variety of the Bratwurst sausage also originated in eastern Germany. It was in Berlin in 1949 that Herta Heuwer is reputed to have invented the "Currywurst", a sliced Bratwurst with curry-tomato sauce, and its popularity spread like wildfire. The German Currywurstmuseum in Berlin can tell you everything you ever wanted to know about this specialty that united German taste.
The further south you travel the more meat becomes an integral part of the local cuisine. In Bavaria, the Nuremberg residents are in dispute with those from Regensburg as to who first invented the finger-size grilled sausage links, a small version of the Rostbratwurst.
An air-dried Westphalian soft smoked sausage is comparable to the "Bauernseufzer" pork link from Franconia, a hard air-dried sausage which has to be heated (comparable to the American peperoni).
A Korn schnapps is called for once in a while. Especially when you are eating brown (!) curly kale with "Pinkel", a very spicy sausage with bacon from Lower Saxony. And if it has to be Bock beer, then it should accompany the world famous "Bockwurst" from Berlin. If you prefer a yeast-drunken "Hefeweizen" in Bavaria, have a "Weisswurst" and Brezel as a snack.
People from Kassel just love their "Leberwurst" (liver sausage), and the Swabians would die for a black sausage spiced with thyme, cloves and nutmeg.
