Stippgrütze, also called Wurstebrei, is a German dish from Westphalia

Westphalia

Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...

 which is similar to Grützwurst or Knipp

Knipp

Knipp is a type of sausage made by mixing meat with grains related to Pinkel which comes from the Bremen and Lower Saxony regions of Germany....

. It consists of barley groats

Groats

Groats are the hulled grains of various cereals, such as oats, wheat, barley or buckwheat . Groats are whole grains that include the cereal germ and fiber-rich bran portion of the grain as well as the endosperm...

 cooked in sausage juices (Wurstbrühe), which are enriched with pieces of 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...

, 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...

, such as heart

Heart

The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...

, kidney

Kidney

The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...

 or liver

Liver

The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...

 and seasoned with spice

Spice

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...

s and salt

Salt

In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...

. More rarely, finely chopped onion

Onion

The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

s are added. The cooked ingredients are minced after the juices have been poured off and a crumbly cake is left which is held together with fat and which sets on cooling. There are various recipes, but they all contain barley groats, fat and meat.

A classic recipe contains pig offal or heart, belly pork with rind, lard greaves, barley groats, water, salt, pepper, allspice

Allspice

Allspice, also called Jamaica pepper, pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or newspice, is a spice that is the dried unripe fruit of Pimenta dioica , a mid-canopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world...

 and thyme

Thyme

Thyme is a culinary and medicinal herb of the genus Thymus.-History:Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage...

. The nutrition varies; one portion made from about 300 g of pork and 60 g of groats contains about 850 kJ.

Its relatively high fat

Fat

Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...

 content means that Stippgrütze keeps well and is often preserved

Food preservation

Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food to stop or slow down spoilage and thus allow for longer storage....

 or frozen, so that it can be used over the winter. The season for Stippgrütze begins with the traditional Schlachtfest

Schlachtfest

A Schlachtfest is the German term for the ritual or ceremonial slaughter of an animal, which is often followed by festive meal. Today, it usually refers to the practice in many parts of Germany, such as the Palatinate, for a celebration or festival involving the ceremonial slaughter of a pig reared...

or country feast in October or November, when the pigs are slaughtered, and lasts until spring.

In the shops Stippgrütze is usually sold in sausage form in clear artificial casings about 12 cm in diameter. To prepare it a large piece is fried in a pan without any additional fat, until a firm crust forms on the underside, occasionally it is stirred and fried again. A sort of porridge or puree (Brei) results, hence its other name of Wurstebrei (sausage puree).

Stippgrütze is served hot out of the pan and usually consumed at dinner

Dinner

Dinner is usually the name of the main meal of the day. Depending upon culture, dinner may be the second, third or fourth meal of the day. Originally, though, it referred to the first meal of the day, eaten around noon, and is still occasionally used for a noontime meal, if it is a large or main...

 (evening meal) together with or on top of coarse rye bread

Rye bread

Rye bread is a type of bread made with various percentages of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat flour...

. For a main meal around midday salt or roast potatoes are usually served with it. It is common for Stippgrütze to include a pickled gherkin. Its acidity supports the digestion and palatability of this fatty meal. Due to its high fat content Stippgrütze is also commonly eaten before enjoying alcoholic drinks.

The use of cooked offal together with coarsely-ground cereal exists in many cultures and used to be viewed as 'poor man's food'. Examples include the Scottish haggis

Haggis

Haggis is a dish containing sheep's 'pluck' , minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a casing rather than an actual stomach.Haggis is a kind...

 prepared in a very similar way from oats

OATS

OATS - Open Source Assistive Technology Software - is a source code repository or "forge" for assistive technology software. It was launched in 2006 with the goal to provide a one-stop “shop” for end users, clinicians and open-source developers to promote and develop open source assistive...

 and sheep's innards or the Swedish dish, Pölsa

Pölsa

Pölsa is a traditional Swedish dish, very similar in taste and consistency to Scottish haggis. The main ingredients are liver, heart, onion, pot barley, and often beef mince or minced pork, mixed with stock, black pepper, and marjoram...

.

Links

Stippgruetze - German Website about the famous westphalian Groat-Sausage

Stippgruetze on Facebook - Facebook Fansite about Stippgruetze