Thinking of trying Biergarten for the first time in a few weeks and in looking at the online menu, it says they have “kids offerings” but I can’t find specifically what they have for kids. Can anyone shed some light on this?
Knockwurst looks like a shorter, fatter American hot dog. German frankfurters are paler in colour and yes spiced differently so maybe the knockwurst would taste closer to an American dog.When we were there in December, they had something that did in fact have "hot dog" in parentheses and I know we had mac & cheese. Taste is really all my kids care about. I can't recall if it was officially labeled as Frankfurters or Knockwurst, but they were billing it as a hot dog. I thought they were pretty good, but my kids didn't care for them since they are spiced/flavored a bit different from typical American dogs. We all thought the mac tasted good. My kids really enjoy Biergarten in general and find a lot there that they like to eat, but we also have always pushed a lot of "adult" foods on them, so we may not be the best gauge.
Knockwurst looks like a shorter, fatter American hot dog. German frankfurters are paler in colour and yes spiced differently so maybe the knockwurst would taste closer to an American dog.
Here in the NE its still quite common to see 'frankfurters", "franks", or "weenies/weiners" in addition to "hot dogs" written on menus. I call them whatever pops into my mind when ordering, LOL. The old Germantown aka Yorkville, still has a presence in Manhattan so when the mood hits we stop there to buy various sausages, smoked pork chops, and various sides and condiments. This is how Schaller + Weber still located in the heart of the old Germantown, sausages look like:Without a side by side and seeing how they were labeled that specific evening, it's really hard to know for certain what was on the buffet that night. I've had both in traditional German restaurants and meat markets, but I know growing up, my German teacher from Bavaria always felt both were key inspirations for the American dog and you get a lot of variation with personal recipes and butchers. My grandparents and great grandparents (some who were German and Austrian) who came over from Europe used frankfurter as a synonym for hot dogs. So, who really knows what was being offered that night.![]()
Here in the NE its still quite common to see 'frankfurters", "franks", or "weenies/weiners" in addition to "hot dogs" written on menus. I call them whatever pops into my mind when ordering, LOL. The old Germantown aka Yorkville, still has a presence in Manhattan so when the mood hits we stop there to buy various sausages, smoked pork chops, and various sides and condiments. This is how Schaller + Weber still located in the heart of the old Germantown, sausages look like:
https://schallerweber.com/shop/sausages/
and I can say that the shape of knock/knackwurst differed in Germany/Austria and the German sections of Switzerland by length but not by meat content (always a mix of pork and veal), colour or diameter. Franks are made with all pork no matter the region or country.
I canna say what happens in other parts of the US when it comes to German sausage making and although I haven't eaten at Biergarten, I have grabbed a sausage from Sommerfest where only 2 types are offered: frankfurters (German style) and bratwurst. I agree with your German teacher, the American dog is a combo of seasoning from the 2 different sausages.