LIFESTYLE

Ich Bin Ein Berliner
Currywurst Fan

I became a currywurst fan during my trip to Berlin in July 2008. There to attend meetings of the International Life Saving Federation, I arrived a few days earlier to see the city since it was my first visit. Berlin is currently one of the most happening places in Europe and some people say there are now more tourists visiting Berlin than any other city in Europe. After the reunification of East and West Berlin in 1989, the city went through a makeover that has made it uber cool. It is said to be as chic as Paris, as funky as Tokyo and as cosmopolitan as New York. The city is interesting because the recent immigrants and combination of communist and capitalist influences have created an eclectic mix of colours, designs and cultures.

I visited many of the famous places in and around Berlin including Sachsenhausen Gedenkstatte (a chilling memorial and museum at the location of the largest Nazi death camp of the Second World War) and Checkpoint Charlie (and its interesting museum). I also queued up for hours to visit the Reichstag (probably the coolest-looking Parliament building in the world after its recent makeover by Sir Norman Foster who incidentally also designed our new Supreme Court building) and walked around its famous glass dome. Brandenburger Tor (the historic arch in the centre of the city), Berliner Dom (the city's famous cathedral), Potsdamer Plaz (its famous square) and Olympiastadion (the venue for the 1936 Summer Olympic Games) were also among the places I visited.

German hospitality by the volunteers of DLRG, the German Lifesaving Organisation that hosted us, also impressed me greatly. In fact, the driver for our visit to the DLRG Berlin headquarters said he had been a volunteer lifesaver for a longer time (27 years) than he had been married (25 years). He jokingly added that on his 25th wedding anniversary, he gave his wife a framed photograph of himself - so that she would remember how he looked like.
Needless to say, German food also featured highly during my trip. Being someone who normally likes to eat local while travelling, I would try to find out what the local specialities are and where the best local eating places are to be found. German cuisine is generally not haute cuisine. The Germans are practical people and their food is more hearty fare than gourmet grub. Bread (brot), potatoes, dumplings and wurst are staples in their diet. However, the growing number of new immigrants have injected many interesting eateries into the city and there is now a wide variety of food from other cultures. Nonetheless, I stuck to my policy of eating the local fare as far as possible. The two local restaurants that stood out were Zur Letzten Instanz (a traditional Berlin pub) and Mutter Hoppe (a famous restaurant serving traditional Teutonic fare). Although both were very good, I preferred Zur Letzen Instanz.

Zur Letzten Instanz (Waisenstrasse 14-16, Berlin)

Zur Letzten Instanz was founded in 1621 and is reputed to be Berlin's oldest pub. Frommer's Germany 2008 guidebook says that Zur Letzten Instanz has supposedly been frequented by everybody from Napoleon to Beethoven and prisoners were known to stop off at the restaurant for one final beer on their way to prison. It makes sense since the name translates roughly to 'To the last Instance'. The English version of the menu also tells a story of a Berlin couple on the verge of divorce who 'reached peaceful reconciliation' after having visited the pub before the divorce hearing (family lawyers please take note). I ate there twice; the first time alone and the second time with Bob, a fellow delegate from Singapore.

My first meal was a lunch consisting of Einstweilige Verfugung (roast leg of pork with jus, red cabbage and potato dumplings) and a cup of coffee. The portion was large, the roast pork tasty and the potato dumplings surprisingly good. My second meal was a dinner where I had Verhandlungs - Pause (original Berlin meatballs with jus, fresh vegetables and pan-fried potatoes). I also tried a bit of the Zeugen - Aussage Eisbein (pickled knuckle of pork with sauerkrat, pea-puree, bacon and butter potatoes) that Bob ordered. The meatballs were very good but I am not a pork knuckle person and cannot say how it compares with others. However, Bob, who eats pork knuckles quite often, said it was very good.

Curry 36 (Mehringdamm 36, Berlin)

The dining highlight of my Berlin trip was the currywurst. Supposedly invented in Berlin shortly after the Second World War, it is food for the masses, being fast, cheap and tasty. Although pizzas and doner kebabs have become very popular in recent years, currywurst was still the most prevalent street food that I came across in the city. Currywurst is typically a German hot pork sausage (wurst) cut into pieces and then bathed in tomato sauce and sprinkled with curry powder and sometimes paprika. Some stalls have machines that automatically cut up the wurst into the right size in a couple of seconds while others do their cutting by hand. There are a number of variations on the sauce but the basic tomato and curry flavours are constants. You can order currywurst with a bread roll or french fries if you like a more complete meal.

There are supposed to be more than 1,500 kinds of wurst in Germany and apparently under German law, wurst should only contain meat and spices and not fillers like cereal. I had at least one currywurst a day whilst I was in Berlin. It was easily available and also easy on the budget. For a fraction of the price of an average restaurant meal you get much more satisfaction most of the time. Naturally, I wanted to know which was the best currywurst in city.

While speaking to the members from the Japan Lifesaving Association, I found out that their interpreter, Chitose, was actually a Berlin resident and lives in the city with her German husband. I asked her about the best currywurst place in the city and she said without hesitation that she and her husband thought it was Curry 36. Apparently, her husband is a foodie and very knowledgeable about these things. Chitose said that whenever they go to Tokyo, her husband would go to Tsukji Market in the early hours of the morning to queue up to eat sushi and that added a lot of credibility to his opinion. She did not know the actual address and could only give me the U-Bahn station where Curry 36 was to be found. However, it was comforting to hear her say that it was easy to find the place and all I needed to do was to come out of the station and ask anyone and they should be able to direct me to Curry 36.

I took the U-Bahn to Mehringdamm station the first opportunity I had after the day's meetings ended. Chitose was right and in fact, I did not even have to ask anyone where Curry 36 was after leaving the station. As I exited, I could see a long queue across the road with many signs of a sausage emblazoned with the word 'Curry' and the number '36' and. It was Curry 36 and its address was Mehringdamm 36. I immediately joined the queue with my stomach in anticipation. The currywurst at Curry 36 was the freshest I have tasted. In addition, it also came with generous servings of tomato ketchup, mayonnaise and curry powder, making it a powerful combination and easily the best currywurst I have eaten. For the record, I went back to Curry 36 a few more times before leaving Berlin. On one of those occasions, I also brought Bob along. He too, was starting to become fond of currywurst and I felt it was only right to take him there.

Kaufhaus des Westens (Tauentzienstrasse 21, Berlin)

Before returning to Singapore, I got the idea of making currywurst back home. It did not seem too difficult and would be a great addition to my limited repertoire of dishes (that included fried rice and instant noodles). Moreover, I did not think it would be too difficult to find wurst, tomato ketchup and mayonnaise back in Singapore although the right curry powder might be a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, Kaufhaus des Westens (Tauentzienstrasse 21, Berlin) or KaDeWe as it is more popularly known was quite near to the meeting hotel and I made a trip there to look for the right curry powder for currywurst.

Founded in 1907, KaDeWe is like a German version of Harrods and one of the largest department stores in the country. It is famous for the food department on the sixth floor where it is reputed to sell more than 1,000 varieties of German sausages in addition to gourmet food from all over the world; a veritable food paradise. The food department also has seating available for shoppers to eat the food they buy from the various stalls selling cooked food from many diverse cultures. I already had a currywurst for lunch so I did not have to make a decision on what to eat but I saw Justin from the Royal Life Saving Society Australia walking all over the floor trying to decide what to eat. After locating the spices department, I found numerous different types of curry powder and could not figure out which was the one that was used for making currywurst. Fortunately, a shop assistant directed me to a corner section containing bottles of curry powder meant for currywurst and I bought one. I also bought two bottles of the famous Hungarian Tokajii dessert wine from KaDeWe's impressive wine section.

Upon reaching home, I bought some pork sausages from the nearest supermarket and tried making a currywurst. The verdict? Well, the sausage did not taste as fresh as the ones I had in Curry 36. However, the tomato ketchup and curry powder were pretty close. Once I find a good supplier of pork sausages, my currywurst should be quite 'guten'.

Richard Tan Ming Kirk
Email: mingkirk@yahoo.com

© Richard Tan Ming Kirk