Running head: CURRYWURST 1

Tyler deBeauclair

Professor Lacey

ENGL 111

10/03/19

Ball, A. (2019, September 5). Currywurst turns 70: The Berlin dish that wouldn’t exist without

the British. The Local DE, p. B2.

Currywurst has impacted history in more ways than one. This food had a museum made about it,

a song written about it, and started a physical fight between politicians. Those are all the

intriguing opening facts that it starts out mentioning. Currywurst is typically defined as a dish of Commented [KL1]: Name “it”

sliced and grilled pork sausage that is covered in ketchup. After it is cut up and covered in

sausage, curry powder is sprinkled on top and sold in all parts of Germany. According to the

currywurst museum, this fast food dish was first created on September 4th, 1949 in the Berlin.

The story is told that a German woman named Herta Heuwer came up with it during wWorld

wWar twoII. It was due to the presence and mixing culture brought by the British. This time was Commented [KL2]: Capitalize proper nouns

known as the post-war period and the allied powers brought new eating habits. These included

the introduction of new spices or “curries,ys”, and the consumption of ketchup on their steak.

This prompted Herta to buy curry powder and serve it to her family with sausages. To this day Commented [KL3]: Use last names once you
introduce someone
Ccurrywurst is known as a German food, but it wouldn’t have ever been created without the

British and Allied Powers. Commented [KL4]: Missing characterization of

source

Clayton, E. (2016, December 10). Nutcracker soldiers, glühwein and currywurst – festive

delights at Belin’s Christmas markets. Bradford Telegraph and Argus, p. B6.

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Emma Clayton talks about her personal experience when she spent Christmas in Germany. The

article in very in depth on the details such as smell and sight of Christmas there. Currywurst

plays a big part in the celebration of Christmas, and it is sold at all the street corners. The night

of Christmas Eve Emma traveled to Berliner Weihnachtszei. This is their world famous market

that is only assembled around Christmas time. It is located at Alexanderplatz in the German

capital. She talks about how the locals refer to it as “Alex”. It is ultimately a large square in

Berlin's central district that gets jazzed up every holiday season. Most know it from the

proximity to the landmark TV Tower. This tower is really a multi floor building filled with

wooden stands of local and foreign vendors selling an array of Christmas gifts and decorations.

Along with those vendors she recalls the smell and flavor of multiple curry spices. Holiday food

and drink was sampled all around in hopes of selling their product over the other competition.

This famous market dates back multiple decades, and can be associated with the leaving of the

allied powers. This was when currywurst first started to become a common street food. These

two have gone hand in hand for many years. Commented [KL5]: Missing characterization of
source

Gollnhofer, J. F., Weijo, H. A., & Schouten, J. W. (2019). Consumer movements and value

regimes: Fighting food waste in Germany by building alternative object pathways.

Journal of Consumer Research, 46(3), 460-482.

This paper is very formal and somewhat challenging to understand. It has a very high level

analysis of food waste in Europe and talks about consumer movements efforts to fight this. Commented [KL6]: A little more
characterization would help.
Consumer movements strive to change markets when those markets produce value outcomes that
CURRYWURST 3

conflict with consumers' higher-order values. It goes into detail about a study previously done

that argues how consumer movements primarily seek to challenge these value outcomes. They

do this by campaigning for alternative higher-order values or by pressuring institutions to change

market governance mechanisms. It discusses how there is a lot of politics behind these

efforts. Further detail is discussed about building on and refining value regimes. This paper

discusses a new type of consumer movement strategy where consumers work together to create

alternative options. The study draws from ethnographic fieldwork in the German

retail food sector and shows how building alternative object pathways allowed a consumer

movement to minimize the value of excessive production of food waste. The newly created plan

it explains offers a new and more holistic way of understanding and contextualizing. The

audience for this paper is highly educated people with knowledge of politics and interest.

Currywurst is brought into this topic when it goes over how and where consumer movements

mobilize for change. They are taking the fight to the streets at a basic level being street food.

Currywurst is one of the most common street foods and has some of the highest waste ratios. It

also provides a new tool for understanding systemic creation and the role of consumers in such

processes.

Haddix, C. M., Kraig, B. & Sen, C. T. (2017). The Chicago food encyclopedia. Urbana, IL:

University of Illinois Press.

The Chicago Food Encyclopedia is a far-ranging portrait of an American culinary paradise. It has

hundreds of entries that talks about culinary superstars, beloved food haunts, and food companies

of today and yesterday. This book talks about the growth of the Chicago food industry and where
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Chicago got its culinary roots. There are more than 100 delicious looking images included and

thirty full-color photographs that transport readers to dining rooms and food stands across the

city. This food book is written for those looking for somewhere to get lunch and those interested

in doing a research report. It has sources from a roster of writers, scholars, and industry experts

pays tribute to an expansive (and still expanding) food history that not only helped build

Chicago, but fed a growing nation. One of the ways they were inspired was by the centuries-old Commented [KL7]: This section is nearly
verbatim from the book description. Simply
Christkindlesmarket in Nuremberg, Germany. In 1996 the City of Chicago held the first changing a word or so doesn’t make it
paraphrased.
Christkindlesmarket Chicago in downtown Chicago. At this event vendors sell typical Ggerman

dishes as sausages (including currywurst), potato pancakes, and strudel. This has become a

yearly event and is hosted in to this day. It allows old roots from Germany and new cross

combinations to be shared and expressed. Currywurst plays a big role in this event as there as

many new spice combinations and different curry powders that are introduced.

Naccarato, P., & LeBesco, K. (2008). Edible ideologies: Representing food and meaning.

Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Retrieved from

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=c268ea31-19dd-433b-8c83-

f072ff7b7f5e%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=e000xn

a&AN=232969

Edible Idealogies talks about the meaning of food in our lives. It has a language that is very

casual and laid back. All viewers readers will understand this paper, but it is mainly intended for

this with an invested interest in the culture and history of food. It is a German based paper with

the intent to educate about multiple different cultures and their foods. The paper is very well
CURRYWURST 5

formatted with pictures and interactive attachments. It is also very easy to navigate. Currywurst

is brought up as a shining star in the world of German food and cooking. It is simple enough to

make that even the most poorpoorest or “culinarily challenged” can produce it. While at the same

it can and has been taken to new heights by incredible culinary chefs. The history of this food is

incredibly meaningful as it came about just after the war and was a light in a time of darkness. It

was something new that Germany had never tasted before, and helped temporarily take away the

pain and loss of war. This food is culturally associated with a thought of rebirth and growth. It

was there at a big point in history and will forever be associated with Germany and their culture.

Hannon, M. (2011, October 5). Currywurst: The evolution of Berlin’s popular street food.

National Public Radio. Retrieved from

https://www.npr.org/sections/nprberlinblog/2011/10/05/141048303/currywurst-the-

evolution-of-berlins-popular-street-food

This paper has a main topic of and it goes over the past, present, and future of it. It is written in

an easy to understand dialogue and intended for the everyday viewerreader. It provides a case for

the traditional German street food known as "currywurst" being the most popular and best of all

German delicacies. It allows outside observers an opportunity to understand the taste of this food

and indulge in a little post-war history. A unique aspect of this paper is the incorporation of food

and the affect it has on cultural interactions. The author discusses how the universal need for

food can bind individuals and groups together both spiritually and ethnically. It goes over the

history and how currywurst origins are attributed specifically to the German capital. In 1949, a
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resourceful German housewife, Herta Heuwer created this and the author briefly explains her

story. It then goes into a detailed explanation of how currywurst is made. It is composed of

German sausage, or wurst, sliced and doused in ketchup and sprinkled with curry powder. It was

an odd and unforeseen match, but currywurst became an overnight success and eventually a

staple of all German streets and backroads. The author has a history working in construction and

interviewed his fellow construction workers. He questioned them about currywurst and other

German cultures and foods. They talked about how they valued its high protein content, hint of

exotic flavor, and low cost.

Hudgins, S. (2018). The cult of currywurst. European Traveler Magazine, 1-3. Commented [KL8]: Place sources in
alphabetical order

What could be more German than currywurst: chunks of sausage, slathered with a sauce based Commented [KL9]: When asking questions,
use question marks.
on the same ingredients as Anglo-American tomato ketchup. It’s spiced with English

Worcestershire sauce, Hungarian paprika, and Indian-inspired curry powder (by way of Britain),

served with French fries on the side. This is the general opening and best way to explain this

magazine article. The author gives a very casual tone to readers, and has an very broad intended Commented [KL10]: Why? Be specific.

audience. Some German cooks even add another multicultural twist: spiking the sauce with

Caribbean and South American peppers. This new version is a challenge to food eaters from

across the world who compete for the top-dog spot in their local currywurst "Hall of Fame."

From its humble origin as a street food in the country's war-torn capital, currywurst has risen to

culinary cult status in Germany, even rating its own museum. Pictures and facts are included

about a museum devoted entirely to currywurst. The museum opened in Berlin in 2009, on the
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dish's 60th birthday. It has exhibits on everything you always wanted to know about currywurst

but didn't know you wanted to ask.

Pierce, B. (2017, May 8). A brief history of currywurst. The Culture Trip. Retrieved from

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/germany/articles/a-brief-history-of-currywurst/

What most have come to know as an integral part of Berlin’s beloved street food scene goes

much deeper than you might initially think. It’s not just cheap grab-n-go food, it’s a sign of

Berlin’s post-war resilience and its mindset to skyrocket onward. Most have become acquainted

with the ubiquitous grub, whether it be as a tourist treat or a late-night necessity. Its history is

simple yet complex, mirroring the dish itself. The author argues that like most things brought

into existence in this world, it started with a woman. her name is, Herta Heuwer. Little did she

know her concoction would spiral into becoming a part of the iconic fabric of Germany’s capital.

Unlike other papers this one discusses the woman Herta and goes into her life more and not just

her creation of the new food. She was a woman of progress, a woman who had to become used

to her country as a constant war zone, and a woman who learned that, to evolve, meant to take

the good and keep building. Eventually she would make it to Berlin where she settled up in the

West and opened a fast-food stand. A plaque sits today where her shop once rolled out hot meals

to the hungry on the corner of Kant Strasse and Kaiser-Friedrich Strasse.

Slackman, J. (2011, January 26). National dish comes wrapped in foreign flavoring. The New

York Times, p. E8.

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The New York Times put published this article out in 2011 as a part of their food eaddition. They Commented [KL11]: Italicize larger
“containers” like newspapers.
were discussing multiple different aspects of food and this one included currywurst. The author
Formatted: Font: Italic
was very formal in his writing, but made the article easy to understand. This article was

incredibly well structured and was the most well written of any of these sources. It talked about Commented [KL12]: Why? Explain.

many different dishes from multiple different nationalities. The main point was how a lot of

these well- known dishes are very simple and even similar in some cases. They all just have very

unique factors that go on to play a big role in the taste as well as presentation. This is why the

article was titled “National dish comes wrapped in foreign flavoring”. The main food he focused

on was currywurst and how sausage already played a national role in Germany and many other

cultures around the world. It went into detail about the foreign flavor which ultimately turned

into curry powder. This was incorporated and inspired by soldiers from the Allied Powers who

were in Germany at the time. This article is a great representation of the history and simplistic

nature of food and our cutlturescultures. Commented [KL13]: Run spellcheck

Timm, U. (1997). The invention of curried sausage (L. Vennewitz Trans.). New York, NY: New

Directions.

This article went deep into the detail and creation of Currywurst as well as its lack of popularity

across the world. Currywurst is incredibly popular in Germany, but it hasn’t made its way across

the world as some might expect. Don’t get me wrong, it is present in many other

contriescountries and the author lists those. It just didn’t “explode” as some might have expected.

The author made a very logical argument for why this is and how this has affected all Germany

because of it. There were graphs as well as data from studies included. The most interesting
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aspect of this article came near the end and this was the physcological relation. It talked about Commented [KL14]: Do you mean
“psychological”?
people are warry of foods that are foreign and have a built in instinct that says “no” to strange

looking foods. To an unbiased party currywurst is not very appealing to look at and the author

explains how this could be a reason for the lack of popularity. Humans have always been this

way and unfortunately this is just the nature of a food like this. The one couter argument he

brought of which was suprising in the love of foods such as chili hot dogs in the US which is not Commented [KL15]: Again, spellcheck

all that different from currywurst. These look unappealing as well and to this comparison he did

not go into detail or have an answer.

Grade: C-