Make the tastiest gourmet hot dogs on holiday Posted on 16 October 2017 German-style sausages are brilliant convenience food. They travel well and cook in no time at all. Serve them as hot dogs or turn them into supper. Have a hot dog party Lay out the ingredients and let everyone build their own. Here are three great combo ideas: 1. Salty pretzel roll • debreziner/cheese griller • caramelised onions 2. German-style roll • bratwurst • German mustard • sauerkraut 3. Soft sweet roll • wienerwurst • finely chopped gherkin • mayonnaise • crispy onion sprinkles How to make caramelised onions Add two tablespoons of butter and two thinly sliced onions to a medium-sized pot over medium-low heat and put the lid on. Cook for 15 minutes, then remove the lid and cook for 45 minutes, stirring regularly, until soft and caramelised. Add sea salt to taste. (Increase or decrease the quantity as you need. Just remember the basic ratio: one onion to one tablespoon butter.) Which wurst? Wursts are basically a preserved product. They’re either smoked or pre-cooked, which means they’re firmer than fresh sausages, won’t spoil as easily, have a longer shelf life and are quicker and easier to cook. Debreziner Mostly pork, thin but juicy, spicy and orange with paprika. Wienewurst Like a frankfurter but shorter, mostly pork and some beef, lightly smoked. Bratwurst Cold-smoked, made of pork and seasoned with white pepper and caraway. Bockwurst Thicker, mainly pork, some beef, sometimes with garlic, lightly smoked. Enjoy with Bock beer. Frankfurter Mostly pork and some beef, lightly smoked. Lay a poached pair over a plate of potato salad. How to cook sausage Browning makes all the difference to wurst, so turn them on the braai (a gas braai works particularly well) or pop them under the grill – just cut slits into the top to prevent splitting elsewhere. To fry them, prick the sausages on one side using a fork and rub with oil. Cook in a medium-hot pan until nicely browned. Coleslaw Relish If there’s leftover cabbage and parsley, make this to go alongside or on a hot dog. 1T red wine vinegar or lemon juice, freshly squeezed Ingredients 3T extra-virgin olive oil 1 small red cabbage, cored and very thinly sliced 1 red chilli, finely sliced handful of parsley, very finely chopped sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Method 1. In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar and oil. 2. Add the cabbage, chilli and parsley and season generously. 3. Toss well and serve. What wine? When you’re making vinegar, acetic acid is a vital ingredient. For winos it’s a swear word. So this month, with an abundance of vinegary sides on offer, the best wine advice I can offer is: put down the corkscrew and step away from the table! What beer? Southern Germany’s most underrated ritual is breakfasting on pale veal weisswurst and a pretzel, washed down with a pint of weissbier. Before 12 noon. Wunderbar! To be weiss, the beer must be brewed from 50 per cent or more malted wheat and the rest from barley. The result is lighter in colour (weiss is German for ‘white’) than a traditional top-fermented ale, with all sorts of weird and wonderful things happening on the nose: fruity and spicy all at once, with hints of citrus. You’ll have to decide whether you prefer unfiltered hefeweizen or its clear sibling, kristallweizen, but you can’t go wrong either way. Time was you had to scour the import shelf for a Paulaner, Erdinger or Franziskaner, but with our craft scene exploding there’s plenty of quality homegrown weissbier available. My top tipples CBC Amber Weiss (R35). The Cape Brewing Co makes some of the finest boutique beer in the country, but there’s something extra-special about this little beauty. Unlike their Krystal, Amber is a cloudy ‘hefe’, perfectly balanced, voluptuous and irresistible. Jonker’s Weiss (R25) is a product of the award-winning Stellenbrau brewery, and it’s got the telltale banana esters and clove phenolics that beer aficionados will instantly recognise as the result of Bavaria’s king of yeasts, weihenstephan. Carver’s Weiss (R18) is SAB’s entrant: slightly cloudy and creamy and relatively light for a weiss (perhaps a bit bitter for real fundis). You have to love the upside-down label on the back encouraging you to turn the bottle on its head and rouse the yeast. Also read: 10 Cape craft beers to try out this summer This story first appeared in the July 2017 issue of Getaway magazine. Get this issue → Our July issue features the best places to stay in the Midlands, budget family breaks in Durban, and the best (and mostly free) things you have to do in New York. Related Posts 3 Wine estates to visit in KwaZulu Natal 31 May 2023 The Cape may be the wine capital of South Africa, but you can still enjoy... read more 11 alcohol-free drinks for the sober curious 26 May 2023 Ocsober and Dry January are all good and well, but how about a permanent shift... read more Treat yourself to a one-of-a-kind fine dining experience in Franschhoek 20 March 2023 If you love a unique fine dining experience, you'll want to treat yourself to the... read more PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE
3 Wine estates to visit in KwaZulu Natal 31 May 2023 The Cape may be the wine capital of South Africa, but you can still enjoy... read more
11 alcohol-free drinks for the sober curious 26 May 2023 Ocsober and Dry January are all good and well, but how about a permanent shift... read more
Treat yourself to a one-of-a-kind fine dining experience in Franschhoek 20 March 2023 If you love a unique fine dining experience, you'll want to treat yourself to the... read more