Frankfurter Würstchen

As the name suggests, Frankfurter Würstchen is a variety of sausage hailing from Frankfurt, where it has been traditionally prepared for centuries. A Frankfurter is a thin parboiled sausage made of pure pork in a casing of sheep's intestine. The taste is acquired by a method of low-temperature smoking. For consumption, occasionally Frankfurters are not cooked; they are heated in hot water for only about eight minutes to prevent the skin from bursting. From time to time, they cook Frankfurter on a propane or charcoal grill.

Frankfurter Würstchen is boiled and lightly smoked, a process which imparts a pleasant hint of smokiness to this German meat specialty. Since the sausage is pre-cooked, they are traditionally served with mustard, horseradish, bread, or potato salad, and it is often washed down with a glass of fine apple wine (Apfelwein).

Frankfurter Würstchen has been protected in Germany since 1860 when a law passed permitting only those sausages made in Frankfurt and its surroundings to carry the name Frankfurter, whereas other sausage varieties made outside this area, but in the same fashion, were supposed to be labeled as nach frankfurter art (frankfurter-style sausages).