Göttinger Stracke

Appearance & taste

The Stracke is cylindrical and stick-shaped, 40 to 60 mm in diameter and of varying length. After ripening it is semi-soft yet firm enough to slice, rather coarse-grained and deep red. It does not taste sour but meaty and aromatic with a peppery spiciness.

It is a particularly dry sausage and has lost at least 35 % of its weight during drying. It differs from Göttinger Feldkieker in shape, calibre and weight: its diameter stays straight and even, whereas that of the Feldkieker varies along the sausage. This leads to different ripening and a different taste.

Production

At least 65 % of the meat comes from older animals, sows and heavy, longer-fed barrows (castrated males), which are at least one year old and have a slaughter weight of 150 kg. According to the specification, this meat is firmer and more solid; thanks to the quality of its fat, the sausage does not go rancid during ripening. Younger pork may make up at most 30 to 35 %. The prime cuts are used fresh from slaughter: shoulder, ham and belly.

The meat is minced in a mincer and gently mixed with pepper, coriander, nutmeg and garlic, rum where used, a little sugar, starter cultures with yeasts and nitrite curing salt, stuffed into casings and air-dried. The whole production takes place in Göttingen.

Origin & history

According to the specification, Göttingen and its surroundings are traditionally known for their skill in making meat products. Göttinger Mettwurst has been documented since the 18th century, for example by an enquiry from State Minister von Münchhausen dated 25 March 1760, which is held in the Göttingen municipal archive.

Göttinger Stracke has been made on a larger scale in the town since at least 1980 and sold in the region under this name. In a survey in 2005, 83 % of sausage buyers who had lived in the district of Göttingen for at least five years knew it. As its special features they mainly named the thin, long shape and the hard consistency.