The St. Gallen Bratwurst – a true Swiss BBQ delight

What would a festival be without her! In addition to the Cervelat, the elegant, and slim Bratwurst is part of barbecues and public festivals all over Switzerland. But what is the difference between a St. Gallen Veal Bratwurst sausage and an Olma Bratwurst? Swiss House Shop explains:

Written sources for the St. Gallen Bratwurst go back to the 14th century. The St. Gallen butchers' guild from 1438 laid down the first foundations for the recipe and quality of St. Gallen Bratwurst. The typical St. Gallen sausage comes in three different weight classes. The lightweight among them is the St. Gallen Bratwurst with around 110 g. With twice as much weight, the St. Gallen ‘Kinderfestbratwurst’ is the heavyweight. The middle weight class is the Olma Bratwurst with 160g. It was first produced in 1943, the birth year of the Olma. Olma is the Swiss trade fair for agriculture and dairy farming, which takes place in St. Gallen every autumn.

The St. Gallen Bratwurst is a white, unsmoked, and scalded sausage made from veal and pork. Veal is a very crucial ingredient. Because only when the lean meat content consists of at least 50 percent veal, the food law allows it to bear the name St. Gallen veal sausage, the highest award for the sausage, so to speak.

The St. Gallen veal sausage, the St. Gallen Bratwurst and the St. Gallen Olma bratwurst have been registered as protected geographical indications (GGA) since 2008 - and have the IGP in their name (Indication Géographique Protégée). The St. Galler Bratwurst IGP or Olma-Bratwurst is produced in the cantons of St. Gallen, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Thurgau.

The bratwurst is best enjoyed on the wood or charcoal grill with dark bread. Regarding the question whether to enjoy it with- or without mustard, the real connoisseur knows that the sausage tastes best without mustard. This is the only way to develop the entire meat aroma when enjoying it (without giving insult to the inhabitants of the canton St. Gallen, most people in Switzerland do dip it in mustard). In a very traditional menu, the bratwurst comes in yet another way of preparation: For bratwurst with onion sauce and Rösti, the sausage is fried in a pan or skillet.

At Swiss House Shop you may find a selection of Swiss sausages from our supplier Spiess in the canton St. Gallen including the Swiss Cervelat, as well as the veal ‘Kalbsbratwurst’ and the ‘Olma Bratwurst’ flown in fresh (never frozen) directly from Switzerland.