Observant Jews in Germany have a traditional national treat coming their way — a kosher Thuringian bratwurst.
The kosher version of the famed aromatic sausage from the former East German state of Thuringen will be introduced at October’s annual Onion Festival in Weimar, which takes place between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, according to the Berlin-based chef Elmar Werner.
The first public bite will be taken by the state’s governor, Bodo Ramelow, who was the impetus behind the product, Werner said.
Werner, who like Ramelow is not Jewish, told JTA that the governor said at the state’s recent summer festival in Berlin that he “regretted that there is nothing kosher available in Thuringen.”
Werner teamed with Weimar butcher Wolfgang Jens Blasse to create the pork-free recipe. The sausage — as yet only a limited number have been produced as a trial — is made of veal, chicken and spices packed into a goat intestine. All is under rabbinic supervision.
Meanwhile, the governor announced Sept. 21 that he was going to erase all comments about the sausage from his Facebook profile after an avalanche of remarks were posted “full of hate, anti-religious sentiment and National Socialist cliches.”
“If you don’t know anything about kashrut and halal and have nothing to say about cheap meat, if you demonize religious slaughter but have nothing to say about how animals are transported or about the working conditions for people in the meat industry, then you should look for another FB page,” he posted.
Ramelow told the Bild Thuringen newspaper that, in addition to kosher bratwurst, he hopes to see “halal and kosher foods, Arabic dishes combined with Thuringian cuisine, alongside hummus, chickpeas and kebabs.” — jta