GERMAN SOUL FOOD

By Nancy J. Brandwein

Most people don’t have romantic associations with knockwurst and German food in general, but wurst in a crusty roll is my madeleine, leading me to Frankfurt, October 1987. Sent to the Frankfurt Book Fair as a young editor, I promptly entered into a romance with an editor from Chicago. Every day at lunchtime we slipped out of our respective booths to smooch and then, my cheeks rubbed raw from kissing, I tucked into wurst from the stands dotting the Buchmesse grounds.

Hallo Berlin: Food Cart. Photo By: Andrew Schwartz

Standing on line behind 10 men in suits at the Hallo Berlin wurst cart, I wondered if it was new love that made a German sausage taste so good. Nicht so! I ordered the bauernwurst sandwich ($5), a plump pork/beef wurst that comes, like everything, drizzled with white and purple cabbage, onion and “special mustard.” Served on the exact kind of crusty roll I remember from two decades ago, the combo is more than sehr gut. While the curly German fries tempted me, I recommend the potato salad ($2.50), which doesn’t have a smidge of mayo in it, just a touch of vinegar and shredded tarragon. “German soul food,” a sign proclaims. That it is, and, for me, a nostalgic remembrance of things past.
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Hallo Berlin
Food Cart
Northwest corner of 54th Street and Fifth Avenue
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