The New World.

The Pancho hot dog from Argentina.

In Argentina and Uruguay, chorizo (beef and/or pork, flavored with spices) and morcilla (blood sausage or black pudding) are the most popular. Both share a Spanish origin. One local variety is the salchicha argentina (Argentine sausage), criolla or parrillera (literally, barbecue-style), made of the same ingredients as the chorizo but thinner. There are hundreds of salami-style sausages. Very popular is the salame tandilero, from the city of Tandil. Other types include longaniza, cantimpalo and soppressata. Vienna sausages are eaten as an appetizer or in hot dogs (called panchos), which are usually served with different sauces and salads. Leberwurst is usually found in every market. Weisswurst is also a common dish in some regions, eaten usually with mashed potatoes or chucrut (sauerkraut).

Chilean longanizas.

Chilean "Completo" hot dog with a generous copping of mayonnaise.

Venezuelan chorizo.

Mexican taco with Sonoran chorizo.

Spanish chorizo.

Sonoran chorizo recipe: Ingredients 2 lbs ground pork 3 1/2 tsp salt 6 tbsp pure ground red chile 6-20 small hot dried red chiles; tepine, pico de gall, crushed 4-6 cloves garlic, minced 2 tbsp dry leaf oregano 2 tsp whole cumin seed, crushed 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper 1 1/2 tsp sugar 4 tbsp good cider or wine vinegar 2 1/2 tbsp water Method Break up the meat, sprinkle evenly with the rest of the ingredients, cut in with two forks until evenly mixed, then knead a bit with your hands until well mixed. At this point the chorizo will keep for at least a couple of weeks in the refrigerator It can be separated in small packages and frozen for months It can also be stuffed into casings and smoked like any other pork sausage

Both Spanish and Mexican chorizo would fall in the category of Rohwursts, in that they are not thermally treated in any way before insertion into the casing. However, the two are two different beasties altogether. The Spanish variety is a fermented, smoked sausage, while the Mexican variety is a raw wurst similar in terms of the manufacturing process (not taste) to the German bratwurst.

Mexican chorizo from Toluca.

The city of Toluca, known as the capital of chorizo outside of the Iberian Peninsula, specializes in "green" chorizo, which is made with tomatillo, cilantro, chili peppers, garlic or a combination of these. The green chorizo recipe is native to Toluca. Most Mexican chorizo is a deep reddish color, and is largely available in two varieties, fresh and dried, though fresh is much more common. Quality chorizo is made from good cuts of pork stuffed in natural casings, while some of the cheapest commercial styles use variety meats stuffed in inedible plastic casing to resemble sausage links. Before consumption, the casing is usually cut open and the sausage is fried in a pan and mashed with a fork until it resembles finely minced ground beef. A common alternative recipe does not involve casings: ground pork and beef are cured overnight with a little vinegar and a lot of chili powder. Served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it has the fine mince-texture mentioned above, and is quite intense in flavor.

According to The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, in 2013 Americans spent nearly $3 billion on wurst alone, roughly the entire gross domestic product of Eritrea.

Würstchen known as the American Hot Dog.

So, first for the German- and Austrian-style American wurst. The Frankfurter or Hot Dog is the most common wurst in the United States and Canada. Likes its Viennese and Frankfurt ancestors, it is a Brühwurst. If traditional American terminology is observed in manufacturing, Frankfurters are more mildly seasoned while Hot Dogs are more spicy. Again, notice that the distinctions between the medieval Frankfurter Würstchen made of pork, Lahner's Wiener Würstchen made of pork and beef, and Gref & Völsing's Frankfurter Rindswurst is long gone. A popular variation is the corn dog, which is a hot dog that is deep fried in cornmeal batter and served on a stick. Wow, why haven't Lahner, Gref or Völsing not thought of that ...

Feltman's restaurant on Coney Island.

The classic American hotdog in a bun with mustard.

As people migrated during the 19th and early 20th centuries across the Atlantic, sausages spread along with them into the New World. Sausages were rapidly popularized in the United States, where they became working class street food sold at street stands and at baseball stadiums. The person generally credited with inventing the hot dog was Charles Feltman, a German butcher who's came up with the idea of selling pork sausages on a warm bun in Coney Island sometime around 1867. Feltman reportedly sold 3,684 sausages on a roll during his first year in business, pushing around a wagon to hungry beachgoers. It sold for ten cents a piece and earned enough money for Feltman to build a hotel, beer gardens, restaurants, food stands, and amusement parks. All that with hot dog money. However, these hot dogs were made of pork, not beef.

Other people have claimed the fame of introducing the hot dog to America. There was Antonoine Feuchtwanger, who sold hot dogs on the streets of St. Louis in 1880. There was Anton Ludwig Feuchtwanger, who served sausages in rolls at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St Louis.

Popular theory has it that the substitutuion of the name "dog" for the fine nuances of Frankfurter Würstchen, Frankfurter Rindswurst and Wiener Würstchen reflected the widespread accusations that dog meat had ben used in sausages in America since the mid 1800s.

Hot dog stands in New York City, circa 1906.

Carts selling sausages on a roll began appearing in New York City en masse around 1906. As immigration continued, what was originally from Vienna and what was from Frankfurt, as well the distinction between a Frankfurter and a Wiener all became blurred in New World. If it was long and thin and had meat in, it it would simply be called a hot dog! Hot dogs in America began to be called frankfurters, frankfurts, franks, wieners or weenies - but all made of beef! Period. The switch from pork dogs that Feltman sold to the later all-beef dogs must have happened later, roughly in line with the introductuion in Germany of the Frankfurter Rindswurst by Gref and Völsing. The drivers may have been similar as in Germany (large population of Jewish customers in growing American cities, and abudant beef).

A typical American hot dog.

For a typical American hot dog of today, all-beef sausage is used. Toppings include mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish, cheese, chili, and sauerkraut are used. There are regional variations between New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Sait Louis, all the way to Arizona and California. For example, New York style hot dogs use ketchup, while Chicago style dogs do not. Chicago dogs use celery salt and pickles, while sauerkraut and mustard are typical for New York style dog. One can get any hot dog in New York, but traditionally New York hot dogs are topped with a spicy brown mustard and either sauerkraut or onions sautéed with tomato paste.

Breakfast sausage served at Ye_Olde_Cottage_Restaurant in Weston, Massachusetts.

Raw American brawurst from a small craft farm in Texas.

Grilled American brawurst, served with a traditional German potato salad and sauerkraut.

American Bratwursts are generally equivalent to the German bratwurst in general, in that they are made from ground meat and some spices. But they do not follow any of the regional recipes from Fanconia, Thuringia or Bavaria. Nevertheless, there are small American manufacturers in, for example, Wisconsin, Texas or New York State, who often operate their own farms and make excellent bratwursts. Obviously, we do not mean mass-production factories like Johnsonville, who will grind their mother in law plus the doghouse into bratwurst if nobody is watching, but small businesses who craft some truly excellent wurst! These are carefully crafted products and they can be ordered online and delivered packed in dry ice anywhere in the United States within 24 hours. However, do not always expect authentic German recipes. Some of these small companies produce authentic German recipes, but most American bratwursts are New World bratwursts. Innovative. There is a wild-boar bratwurst made in Texas from farm-raised wild pigs, there is an apple bratwurst, even a Cajun bratwurst. Imagination is the limit!

Enchilada with chorizo.

Spain owned everything from present-day Mexico up to and including present-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, plus Florida, in the form of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Virreinato de Nueva España). At its greatest extent, it included all of present-day Mexico and Central America except Panama, and most of the present-day United States west of the Mississippi River, plus Florida. New Spain also ruled significant real estate in the Pacific as well as in the Caribbean. The capital of New Spain was Mexico City. It was ruled by a viceroy, governing the various territories on behalf of the King of Spain.

Britain, at the time, was a minor player having a narrow strip of 13 relatively small colonies nested along the Atlantic coast.

This all changed in the middle of the 18th century at the end of the Seven Years' War, which Britain won and france lost. It was the end of Nouvelle France, with significant parts of formerly french-ruled territory now becoming British and Spanish. While New France folded in 1763, New Spain lasted until 1821. Independence from Spain was declared on September 15, 1821 and a Mexican monarchy was established.

Without going into too much detail, France had significant political and cultural control over north America until mid-18th century. Spain had the same until the first half of the 19th century. These empires obviously served as a vehicle to spread traditions, including cuisine. It is therefore no wonder that the traditional cuisines in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California are heavily influenced by Mexican cooking. However, they are not the same as Mexican cuisine in Mexico. For example Tex-Mex (the traditional food in Texas) is country-style food eaten by vaqueros or cowboys, having little to do with what the Spanish and later Mexican upper crust ate in Mexico City or Veracruz.

The chorizo sausage is a good example fo this. Although delicious, it is basically a low-grade bratwurst, made with ground pork and spices stuffed into a pork-intestine casing, or sold as is to serve as a filling for tacos or enchiladas. It came from Mexico, because firmly established in the northern reaches of the Mexican empire, and when these Mexican territories became states of the United States, the sausage spread on from there. That is how the chorizo found its way throughout the present-day United States.

Mexican chorizo is a chile- and garlic-flavored sausage, originally derived from the Spanish sausage of the same name, but has evolved over the last few centuries to be distinctly Mexican. It is a fresh sausage (Rohwurst), therefore has to be cooked thoroughly. Most chorizo in the United States is made from pork. Mexican style chorizo is fresh, quick cooking and the stuff of queso fundido, huevos con chorizo, tacos and many other comfort food goodies.

Other dishes include:
Poblano chorizo potato salad
Chorizo, Potato, And Egg Breakfast Tacos
Beef And Chorizo Burritos
Huevos con chorizo served on tortillas with cheese
Mixed with black beans or refried beans, served on tortillas or as a dip
Mixed with cheese for queso fundido
On pizza crust with tomato sauce and a blend of grated Monterey Jack and Cheddar
On tortilla chips topped with grated cheese for nachos nachos

Italian Sausage is a Rohwurst in that it has not been thermally treated in any way before insertion into casing and delivery. In terms of its manufacture (not taste), it is similar to the German bratwurst or Mexican chorizo.

This is a widespread wurst that is ubiquitous throughout the United States. However, one would not find "Italian Sausage" in a butcher shop in Italy or elsewhere in Europe. Asking for "Italian Sausage" would be like asking for "Swiss Cheese":
"Which kind would you like, monsieur? Would you fancy Emmentaler or Gruyère or Bergkäse, Appenzeller or Tilsiter?"
.... or any of the other 450 types of cheese that exist in Switzerland? Asking for "Italian Sausage" in in Europe would generate equally blank stares. That is because what is understood in the United States as "Italian Sausage" is a regional variety most likely from sicily, which was brought along with Italian immigrants who mainly came from southern Italy. The main period of Italian immigration to the United States took place in the period of 1880-1914, following the Italian unification in 1861.

Following a tumultuous history throughout the 19th century, which is far beyond the scope of this essay, Italy became a unified constitutional monarchy on 18 February 1861, with Victor Emmanuel II as the ruler based in Rome, the new capital, and a parliament based in Turin. On 17 March 1861, the parliament proclaimed Victor Emmanuel II the King of Italy, and on 27 March 1861 Rome was declared Capital of Italy. The unification caused a deterioration of the economic conditions in many parts of southern Italy and Sicily, including the new government’s allocation of much more of its resources to the industrialization of the North than to the South, an inequitable tax burden on the South, tariffs imposed on the products from the South, soil depletion and deforestation, not to forget a military conscription lasting seven years. The economic situation became untenable for many sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and small business and land owners. Multitudes chose to emigrate rather than face the prospect of a deepening poverty. Many of these were attracted to the U.S. which, at the time, was actively recruiting workers from Italy and elsewhere to fill the labor shortage that existed in the years following the Civil War. Often, the father and older sons would go first, leaving the mother and the rest of the family behind, until the male members could afford their passage. From 1880 to 1920, an estimated 4 million Italians arrived in the United States, the majority from 1900 to 1914. Between 1876 and 1930, out of the 5 million Italians who came to the United States, 80% were from the South, from Calabria, Campania, Abruzzi, Molise, and Sicily. 2/3 of the immigrant population were farm laborers or laborers. About 50% of those who came between 1901 and 1920 repatriated back to Italy after they had earned money in the United States. Although they did not intend to stay in the United States permanently and did not integrate, in all the wave of Italian immigration lasting several decades has changed the face of the American society (as well as its cuisine).

What does this mean for "Italian Sausage"? Salsiccia (sausages) in Italy are very commonly seasoned with a combination of the following: pepper, chile, coriander, fennel, nutmeg, sugar (dextrose, sucrose). There are numerous recipes for sausage with fennel seeds (Salsiccia con semi di finocchio) in the regions of Calabria, Campania, Puglia (salsiccia con finocchietto selvatico, salsiccia piccante con finocchietto e peperoncino piccante, salsiccia dolce con finocchietto e peperoncino rosso di Senise in polvere. salsiccia piccante con finocchietto e peperoncino piccante). Some of these look remarkably similar to the "Italian Sausage" found in the United States. It is our theory that the American sausage is a direct descendant of one, or more, of these, brought to the United states in the last quarter of the 19th century, and integrated into the American cuisine.

"Italian Sausage" from the United States: Ingredients 3 lbs ground pork 3 tbsp red wine vinegar 1 tbsp salt 1 tbsp freshly cracked black pepper 1 1/4 tbsp dried parsley 1 tbsp garlic powder 1 tbsp onion powder 1 tbsp dried basil 2 tsp paprika 2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste 3/4 tsp ground fennel seed 1/4 tsp brown sugar 1/8 tsp dried oregano 1/8 tsp dried thyme Method Place the pork and vinegar in a mixing bowl. Add all the spices Knead until flecks of spice are evenly distributed through the sausage. Divide the mixture into thirds, and form into 3 long cylinders Wrap each in plastic wrap. Place wrapped sausage into a freezer bag or store in refrigerator for at least 12 hours before cooking. YIELD: Makes three 1-pound portions

The term pepperoni is a misspelling of the Italian word "peperoni", which means the plural of plural bell pepper, referring to bell peppers as such but also peperoncino and peperone piccante. The first reference using pepperoni in the United States to refer to a sausage dates to 1919. Pepperoni is a cured Rohwurst, similar to the spicy salamis of southern Italy, such as Salsiccia Napoletana piccante or the Soppressata from Calabria. The main differences are that Pepperoni has a finer grain (akin to salami of Milan, a spicyless regional variant of salami), is usually softer, and is produced with the use of an artificial casing (Italian salami are produced using natural-intestine casing). P American Pepperoni is made from pork or beef, with turkey also commonly used as a substitute. Pepperoni sausages are commonly sold in two sizes: an inch in diameter for pizza, and 2-3 inches in diameter for sandwiches. Pepperoni is sold whole, chopped, or in slices.

American Bologna, sometimes phonetically spelled as baloney, is a descendant of the Italian Mortadella, a large pork Glühwurst Bologna. However, unlike mortadella, American Bologna can be made from chicken, turkey, beef, pork, venison or even soy protein.

"German Bologna" differs from regular American Bologna in its seasonings, most typically garlic being added to the recipe. Something like this would usually be called Lyoner or Fleischwurst in Germany and Extrawurst in Austria.

The "Lebanon Bologna" has nothing to do with the Middle East, but with Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. It was developed by the Pennsylvania Dutch, who themselves are not Dutch but mostly German, having come from southwest Germany (Baden-Württemberg and Rheinland Pfalz), Alsace, Switzerland and even France. When they came, they spoke a dialect of German (Deutsch), which became Americanized as "Dutch".

Lebanon Bologna sausage is a type of cured, smoked, and fermented semi-dry sausage made of beef. It is similar in appearance and texture to salami, though somewhat darker in color. Lebanon bologna has a distinct tangy flavor, moreso than other fermented meat products such as summer sausage. Hardwood smoking imparts a strong smoky flavor to the traditionally prepared versions of the product. It was developed in the 19th century.

Lebanon Bologna is available in markets throughout the United States and typically served as a cold cut, as well as an appetizer. Four versions exist, including original, sweet, double-smoked and honey-smoked.

Cajun Andouille sausage.

In the United States, the andouille sausage exists in southern Lousiana, in the Cajun country. Cajun Andouille is a coarse-grained, smoked sausage made from chunks of pork, garlic, pepper, onions, wine, and seasonings. Once the casing is stuffed, the sausage is smoked again.

Cajun andouille sausage is an essential ingredient of the Louisiana gumbo soup.

In the United States, Liverwurst is eaten spread on traditional or as open-faced sandwiches. It is popular in North America with red onion and mustard on rye or whole grain bread. Liverwurst is typically served on crackers or in sandwiches. Most of the time it's sold as slices rather than spreads.

Head Cheese in North America, Brawn in England and Australia, and Potted Heid is used in Scotland, is a Kochwurst generally equivalent to Presswurst in Austria and Germany, or the Czech Huspenina, Sulc or Tlačenka. In Louisiana, there is a variety of head cheese made, which is nicely seasoned with cayenne pepper (after all, what in Louisiana is not seasoned with cayenne pepper?).

• Alexandra Molnar December 19, 2010, From Europe to America: Immigration Through Family Tales, http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~molna22a/classweb/politics/index.html
• Fleischtheke.info
• Wurst.de
• Wikipedia