Fine pork from Northern Hesse: sausage production with air and love!

The old saying "The best food is available from Hesse" definitely applies to the North Hessian Ahle Wurst, also known as Ahle Wurscht or Worscht. This is a raw pork sausage that was traditionally made during the home slaughtering that was common in the past. The special thing about this sausage is that the freshly slaughtered pork, which must come from heavy pigs, is processed hot.

The sausages have to mature in the “sausage chamber” for 3 to 9 months to become a real “Ahle Wurscht”, i.e. an “old sausage”.

In order to learn the fine art of sausage making, a traveling order in 1785 recommended that traveling butchers make a stop in the northern Hessian city of Kassel. This area is the home of the traditional "Ahle Wurst" - a hand-made raw sausage that is only produced by a few butchers today. One of them is Carsten Neumeier, who still produces the Ahle Wurscht in Hessisch Lichtenau-Waldburg at the foot of the Hoher Meißner in the same way his grandfather did 100 years ago. A craft that has been kept alive for generations and requires nothing more than a well-raised and slaughtered pig with a slaughter weight of at least 150 kilograms, table salt and fresh garlic that has previously been steeped in a 54% ABV pot of rum. Everything is processed while still warm from the slaughterhouse – that is, shortly after slaughter – and filled into natural casings, which may then be lightly smoked and – depending on the calibre of the casings – must mature for 3 to 9 months in the “sausage chamber” to become a real “Ahle Wurscht”, or “old sausage”. “Processing while still warm from the slaughterhouse is important in order to give the sausage a crumbly, marzipan-like consistency. A special feature of the Ahle Wurscht”, explains Neumeier. He mainly uses pigs of the German Landschwein breed for the sausage, as well as, depending on availability, Swabian-Halle pasture pigs, Mangalitza or even wild counterparts, and the finer cuts of meat such as loin, shoulder or chop are also used in sausages.

To ensure that the animals reach their slaughter weight, they are not slaughtered until they are around 9 to 10 months old. This is the only way the sausage dries and matures without developing deep wrinkles - an unmistakable sign of meat from a pig that is too young. The butcher compensates the farmer for the extra work involved in the longer fattening period with 80 cents per kilo above the current pork price.

"Every Ahle Wurscht has to be treated like a young woman," laughs Neumeier, meaning that every single sausage needs a lot of attention to achieve the desired result. The "care program" includes airing the "sausage chamber" to ensure the right humidity, regularly turning the sausages and, if necessary, brushing off the natural mold, the formation of which is essential for the ripening process and which colleagues like to use as a starter culture when, for example, they set up a new ripening chamber.

The Neumeier family, the next generation is also already in training or is currently attending the master class, slaughters around 10 to 15 pigs a week. The animals are delivered the evening before by farmers from the local area, so that the whole process is as stress-free as possible. Anyone who books a slaughtering or sausage-making seminar with Neumeier can see this for themselves. The course participants are present at the normal slaughter and can even help out under Neumeier's expert guidance. Getting up early is included, it starts at 4 a.m.!