Currywurst in Berlin

Currywurst tops the list of must try items while in Berlin. One of Berlin’s oldest spots for currywurst is Konnopke’s Imbiss, located in Prenzlauer Berg. When I stayed in Berlin, my hostel was just a few short blocks away. Although a fairly simply dish, currywurst is quite tasty and popular. It consists of bockwurst or other German-style pork sausage, that is chopped into bite sized pieces, fried until crisp and then covered with a red tomato based sauce, similar in consistency to ketchup, and sprinkled with curry powder. It’s often served with a roll or french fries.

In 1947 Herta Heuer created the dish, attempting to incorporate American and British soldiers’ love of ketchup and curry powder. West Berlin’s Charlottenburg has a plaque commemorating her on Kantstrabe.

There are several ways of ordering the dish. “Currywurst mit Darm” is when the currywurst is prepared with the skin on, and “Currywurst ohne Darm” is the dish prepared sans skin. West Berlin locals seem to prefer currywurst prepared mit Darm, with East Berlin preferring the opposite way. Mayonanaise usually accompanies french fries. For those wanting an extra kick in their currywurst, asking for “scharf” gets you sprinkles of extra cayenne powder.

Best Currywurst in Berlin

The best currywurst shop is the subject of heated contention. While visiting, I grabbed currywurst at Konnopke’s, Curry7 located in Kreuzberg. You can also stop by Curry36 while in Kreuzberg. Locals support Curry36 as the best. My personal favorite is Curry7, where the dish tastes great after a night of clubbing. Find a map of Berlin’s most popular currywurst locations here.

You can also grab a bottle of curry sauce to take home with you from stores, though it’s not as authentic as what you’ll get from an actual currywurst shop. Hela is a popular brand, that I picked up from Aldi while in Copenhagen. It’s actually quite good.

Grillwalkers are mobile currywurst sellers. The grillwalker walks around with a kitchen strapped to him. I only found them in Alexanderplatz.

Imbiss are the small shops that sell a lot of the 800 million currywurst consumed by Germans every year. They also sell other tings such as hotdogs, fries, burgers and döner kebab.

Head over to the Deutsches Currywurst Museum located at Schützenstraße 70 by Checkpoint Charlie. It’s devoted to all things currywurst. There are imaginative and interactive displays and regular events. Bier’s Kudam 195 on Kurfürstendamm in Charlottenburg offers patrons a gourmet dining experience. Here currywurst comes on china and is accompanied by champagne.

While in Kensington, I snagged some unsmoked wieners from a meat market and made my own version of curry ketchup to top them with. Here’s one of my favorite recipes:

Currywurst Ketchup Recipe

• 1 can tomato paste
• 2 roma tomatoes diced
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/4 white onion diced
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup ( this gives it a bottled ketchup consistency) 
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon madras curry powder
• couple of shots of Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp salt

1. Saute the garlic, onions, and curry powder in a little oil

2. Pour in the tomato paste and heat

3. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for about 15 minutes

4. Puree with a hand blender until smooth.