Bratwurst is a widely popular German grilling sausage which these days in South Africa is sold as a “griller”, an infantilising term typical of an age in which everything must be brought down to its lowest common denominator by those whose role in life is to market and sell. We may mourn a time when the simple and comforting truth of an ordinary word such as “sausage” was considered good enough.

Anyway. Wurst means sausage in any event, just as when we say “wors” in South Africa everyone knows we’re talking about boerewors, and when we say “porkie” we mean an Eskort pork sausage.

A vienna sausage (or frankfurter) is the expected choice for a hotdog but the standard of viennas in South Africa has deteriorated to the point where it’s hard to find one that tastes anything like an old-fashioned red vienna once tasted. They’re plasticky, gooey and nasty. So I tried some local bratwurst that I spotted at my Spar and was pleasantly surprised. They taste really good and can be fried in a little oil in a pan in minutes.

The rolls I used were pretty standard shop bought ones. But I spruced them up by giving them a couple of minutes on the grill setting in my air fryer.

(Per 2 hotdogs)

Ingredients

2 bratwurst

2 hotdog rolls

1 large onion

A little olive oil

Wholegrain mustard

Butter

Method

Slice the onion and cook in a little oil until golden brown.

Use a bread knife to cut the rolls in half through the middle. If you have an air fryer, spray the basket. Spray both sides of the rolls too, and cook them on grill or on air fry for 2 minutes only. Or, heat a dry pan and cook them for a minute or two, with no fat, just to revive them and give the exterior a little crunch.

Butter the insides while still hot. Smear some wholegrain mustard on one half.

Fry the bratwurst in a little oil in a pan on a moderate heat, rolling the pan to keep them moving, until lightly browned.

Spoon some cooked onion onto the lower half of the bread roll, add a bratwurst, top it and tuck in. DM

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.