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My Berlin: the humble currywurst

By fotoeins on 26 August 2011

Curry 61 – Hackescher Markt

Walking around Berlin’s Mitte district on a wet March afternoon, I found myself in the area around Hackescher Markt. I stepped briefly into the quiet Hackesche Höfe courtyard complex to pick up some postcards. I’d already seen (and smelled) numerous cafés, bakeries, and snack shops. I hadn’t had lunch, and with the possibilities of food reaching my eyes, the grumbling belly meant it was time to feed.

The ubiquitous yet humble currywurst came to the rescue. I retraced my steps back towards Hackescher Markt, and I arrived at the street-side counter for Curry 61.

A short history of Berlin’s claim to currywurst’s origins goes something like this. In 1949, Herta Heuwer, who ran a snack counter in Berlin, mixed curry powder and Worcestershire sauce with ketchup, and when she served grilled pork sausage with the new sauce to her customers, they loved the new concoction. She patented the sauce as “Chillup” years later. Today, currywurst is ubiquitous, challenging even the Döner as the champion of street-food throughout Berlin.

I had a short conversation in German with the owner:

• Was hätten Sie gern? — Einmal mit (Darm) und Pommes rot; scharf, bitte.
• Woher kommen Sie? — Kanada, doch ich arbeite zurzeit in Chile.
• Was machen Sie hier in Berlin? — Urlaub, ein paar Freunden besucht.
• Wie sprechen Sie so gut Deutsch? — Schon 2. Jahre hier gewohnt, und viele Mass Bier getrunken.

Roughly translated into English …

• What would you like? — An order with (casing), and fries ‘red’; spicy, please.
• From where have you come? — Canada, but I work presently in Chile.
• What are you doing in Berlin? — Vacation, visiting friends.
• How did you come to speak German? — 2 years in the country, and many litres of beer.

The owner seemed to like that last answer.

Although the owner asked if I really wanted the spicy (Scharf) version, I got a good dose of spice; my serving had a good sharp edge.

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Curry 36 – Zoologischer Garten

In subsequent visits to Berlin, I’m passing through the train station near the city’s zoo more frequently. Next to the station at Hardenbergerpltaz is a satellite of Curry 36. While their mainstay is near Mehringdamm station, the location next to the station at Zoologischer Garten gets its fair share and flow of people streaming in and out of the station serving U-Bahn, S-Bahn, and regional trains.

I order two grilled sausages sliced into bite-sized pieces, accompanied by “Pommes rot-weiss”, french-fries with dollops of ketchup and mayo (red-white) and topped with curry powder.

On the last day of my time in Berlin, I finally dropped by the Curry 36 stand, one I'd been eyeing next to the Zoo Garten. I ordered a double currywurst (ohne Darm/no casing), scharf/spicy, and a side of pommes (paw'-mes) with a dollop of mayo. A heart attack special on a paper plate … and it was nomtastic. Hot diggity, I miss this €5 beaut. Curry 36 am Zoo, Hardenbergplatz, Berlin, Germany – 9 Dec 2014.

A post shared by Henry Lee (@fotoeins) on Dec 29, 2014 at 2:29am PST

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Many have written about and swear by these currywurst joints in Berlin: Curry 36 and Konnopke’s Imbiss. I’ve also visited the German Currywurst Museum to learn about the history and evolution of the snack. Come to think of it, every time I’m in Berlin, I’ll seek out the currywurst, from one “Imbiss” stand to the next, in my perpetual search for the ultimate taste of the city.

This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-pr.