How they make North Hessen "Ahle Wurscht".

“Ahler Wurscht” as far as the eye can see.

But for some of these specimens,

-- like the 2 you see here --

up to one and a half years will pass

before this North Hessen speciality ends up on your plate.

The “Ahler Wurscht” is allowed to mature,

well cooled and kept in the dark.

But how do they make the sausage?

The team at the Roder Butchery should know.

They make “Ahler Wurscht” there up to four times a week.

First the halved pigs are delivered and weighed.

The quality of the meat is tested,

and the Ph and temperature are measured.

In order to cut up the meat further,

the knives must be sharp.

Bones and gristle are removed.

The special thing about our “Ahler Wurst” is that they are prepared warm.

That is, the pigs are brought into the warm soon after they have been slaughtered.

The other special thing about “Ahler Wurst” is that, here,

we use every part of the pig;

pork fillet, the back muscle, topside,

all of it goes into the sausage.

And the other special thing is the recipe.

That’s a very important part of it.

It’s a family recipe, and it doesn’t use any additives.

After the meat has been seasoned, it goes into the meat grinder.

The Roder Butchery produces 8 different types of “Ahler Wurst”.

Today they’re making “Hercules’ Clubs”.

After the meat has been chopped up, it all gets thoroughly mixed.

Then the sausage-mix is ready for the filling stage.

The mix gets put into natural casing,

and hey presto: the sausage is ready.

Ready?

No. Not for a long time yet.

Now comes the process that makes this Wurst into “Ahler Wurst.”

The sausage goes into the maturation chamber.

“The other special thing [about Ahler Wurst]

is that we make the sausage using a mould, an edible mould.

We hardly ever smoke our sausages.

By allowing the sausages to mature by drying out in the air,

we create the kind of flavour

that you find for example in a French ham, or in Chambel salami.

During the maturation period, the sausage has to be re-hung regularly

and the mould has to be brushed off.

With such care and attention

it is no wonder that the Roder Buchery

has fans all around the world.