Kochwurst is the name given to the German pre-cooked sausage, a class of sausage

Sausage

A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...

 whose ingredients are largely cooked before the preparation of the sausage meat. The individual ingredients are held together by solidified fat (as in Streichwürste or string sausages), gelatine (as in Sulz - cured meat in gelatine) or blood proteins coagulated by heating (as in Blutwurst or blood sausage). In contrast with cooked sausages (Brühwurst), Kochwurst does not remain solid on heating, but more or less liquefies. After being filled into intestines, glasses or tins

Tin can

A tin can, tin , steel can, or a can, is a sealed container for the distribution or storage of goods, composed of thin metal. Many cans require opening by cutting the "end" open; others have removable covers. Cans hold diverse contents: foods, beverages, oil, chemicals, etc."Tin" cans are made...

, the whole sausage is cooked through again in hot water or steam.

In addition to meat

Meat

Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...

, Kochwurst often contains also offal

Offal

Offal , also called, especially in the United States, variety meats or organ meats, refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs other than...

 like liver

Liver (food)

The liver of mammals, fowl, and fish are commonly eaten as food by humans. Domestic pig, ox, lamb, calf, chicken, and goose livers are widely available from butchers and supermarkets....

 or tongue

Tongue

The tongue is a muscular hydrostat on the floors of the mouths of most vertebrates which manipulates food for mastication. It is the primary organ of taste , as much of the upper surface of the tongue is covered in papillae and taste buds. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva, and is richly...

, blood and, in the case of Grützwurst, cereal

Cereal

Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...

. Since the ingredients are easily perishable and Kochwurst does not usually last long, it was traditionally made on slaughtering days and is thus a usual ingredient of Schlachtplatte

Schlachtplatte

-Track listing:# Voruss – 3:13# Scharlachrot – 4:24# Am Schärme – 2:24# Bälpmoos – 4:42# Schuumbad 1 – 1:27# Salz & Schtahl – 1:52# Padänt Ochsner – 1:14# No geit's – 2:03# Schuumbad 2 – 1:34# Mittschiffs – 2:25# Pfeuti – 3:26# Domino – 1:52...

.

Also counted as Kochwurst are pies, known as Pasteten, which are cooked in square shapes. One speciality are Kochmettwürste such as the Palatine Saumagen

Saumagen

Saumagen is a German dish popular in the Palatinate. The name means "sow's stomach". The dish is similar to a sausage in that it consists of a stuffed casing; however, the stomach itself is integral to the dish. It isn't as thin as a typical sausage casing...

, which are referred to as a type of Kochwurst.

In parts of northern Germany (e.g. in Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg), the term Kochwurst is also used to refer to smoked Mettwurst

Mettwurst

Mettwurst is a strongly flavoured German sausage made from raw minced pork, which is preserved by curing and smoking. The southern German variety is soft and similar to Teewurst. Braunschweiger mettwurst is smoked somewhat but still soft and spreadable, while other northern German varieties such...

and Kohlwurst

Kohlwurst

Kohlwurst, Lungenwurst or Lungwurst is a simple, fresh, strongly smoked sausage made of lights, pork and fat, which is mostly eaten cooked with kale dishes such as Knieperkohl...

, which is cooked in pots in order to be served as an accompaniment to Grünkohl, or to act as a soup ingredient.

Varieties

In Germany, the Kochwurst varieties are grouped as follows (with examples):

• Blutwurst
  • Beutelwurst
    Beutelwurst
    A Beutelwurst is a German blood sausage , which contains more pieces of fat and flour than a normal Rotwurst....
    
    
  • Gutsfleischwurst
  • Thüringer Rotwurst
  • Grützwurst
  • Fleischerblutwurst
  • Filetblutwurst
  • Hausmacherblutwurst
  • Schweinskopfblutwurst
  • Speckblutwurst
  • Leberrotwurst
  • Zungenblutwurst
• Kochstreichwurst
  • Leberwurst
    • Kalbsleberwurst
    • Leberbrot
    • Pfälzer Leberwurst
    • Delikatessleberwurst
    • Einfache Leberwurst
    • Feine Leberwurst
    • Gutsleberwurst
    • Hausmacher Leberwurst
    • Kassler Leberwurst
    • Landleberwurst
    • Zwiebelleberwurst
  • Kochmettwurst
    • Gekochte Mettwurst
    • Hamburger Gekochte
    • Zwiebelwurst
    • Pinkel
      Pinkel
      Pinkel is a smoked Kaszanka , a type of sausage which is eaten with kale in Northwest Germany, especially in the region around Oldenburg, Bremen and Osnabrück as well as in East Frisia and Friesland...
      
      
  • Pastete
• Sülzwurst
  • Schinkensülze
  • Presskopf
  • Corned Beef
    Corned beef
    Corned beef is a type of salt-cured beef products present in many beef-eating cultures. The English term is used interchangeably in modernity to refer to three distinct types of cured beef:...
    
    
  • Sächsische Weißwurst
  • Schwartenmagen
  • Schweinskopfsülzwurst
  • Sülzfleischwurst
  • Presswurst

External links

• Walter Wagner, Uni Bayreuth: Die Wurst