German mettwurst, made in Western Australia

Mettwurst is what we came up on. Before the jerky, before Artisan Game, before any of it — Karutz is a German smallgoods family, and mettwurst is the thing we would want to be judged on.

It’s a cured, fermented sausage — soft enough to spread when it’s young, firm enough to slice as it dries. Properly made, it is tangy, deeply savoury, and it improves for weeks in your fridge. Badly made, it’s a salami that didn’t try. There is a lot of the second kind about.

The range

• Plain Mettwurst 250g — $14. The benchmark. If you want to know whether a smallgoods maker knows what they’re doing, buy their plain one.
• Garlic Beef Mettwurst — 200g $13 / 400g $23. Hahndorf style, garlic right through the middle of it.
• Chilli Coated Mettwurst 400g — $22. Rolled in chilli. Heat on the outside, mettwurst underneath.
• Kangaroo Mettwurst — 250g $17 / 400g $23. German technique, Australian animal. Leaner and darker than the beef. Also available hot.
• Venison Mettwurst 400g — $23. Rich and refined. The one to buy if you already know mettwurst well.
• Mettwurst biersticks — 10 packs, $35. Plain, garlic or hot. Individually portioned. These are what a beer is for.

How to eat mettwurst

On rye, with mustard and a pickle, and a beer. That is the whole tradition and it hasn’t been improved on.

If it’s young and soft, spread it. If it’s had time and firmed up, slice it thin. Either way, take it out of the fridge before you eat it — cold mettwurst tastes like half of what it is.

Fermented or smoked?

Both, depending on the style. Fermentation is what gives mettwurst its tang — a slow, controlled souring that a simply dried sausage does not have. Smoke, where we use it, comes from real wood.

This is old technique. We haven’t found a reason to update it.

Cured the old way

Mettwurst is a cured sausage, and the curing is what makes it mettwurst rather than mince. Salt, ferment, smoke, time — and a curing salt, the same one German butchers have used for generations and the same one that keeps cured meat safe to eat.

We’re not going to dress that up as something it isn’t. It’s on the label, where it belongs. What we will tell you is what isn’t in it:

• No fillers — meat, not padding.
• No artificial colours — the colour comes from the cure and the smoke.
• No dairy
• Gluten free

This is traditional German charcuterie, made the way this family has always made it. The method is old, and it’s the reason it tastes like it does.

If you want a clean-label snack instead, that’s what the Artisan Game range is for — kangaroo, emu and crocodile jerky with no nitrites and no preservatives at all. Different product, different job.

Buy mettwurst online in Australia

There are not many people making proper German mettwurst in this country, and fewer still shipping it. We do both. Free shipping Australia-wide on orders over $150, delivered in 1–3 days.

Or come to the Fremantle Markets and buy it from Rod, who will talk to you about it for longer than you were planning. Friday to Sunday, 8am–6pm.

More on finding us in Perth →