BrothAUs Authentic Homemade German Sausages & Bread (with Recipes!)

Dinner platter

On this delicious platter, there are three types of authentic homemade German Sausages: Weisswurst, Thuringer Bratwurst, Chorizzo; authentic German Sourdough Bread; and Butter-glazed Baby Peas with Dill.

The STAR of this platter? Definitely the SAUSAGES!

Let me show you their close-up shots.

Fresh sausages

(From left to right):
Thueringer Bratwurst, Weisswurst, Chorizzo

Okay, let's go straight to the point:

Thueringer Bratwurst

Characteristic: Strongly flavored with herbs, great meaty taste
Cooking method: Great for pan-frying and barbeque
How to eat: Best eaten with potatoes, bread and mustard sauce

Weisswurst

Characteristic: Soft, smooth, with a hint of lemon, light and fresh
Cooking method: Gently poached in 80°C water, not in boiling water
How to eat: Best eaten with sweet mustard sauce

Chorizzo

Characteristic: Strongly flavored with spices and garlic
Cooking method: All-rounder, i.e. great for pan-frying, barbeque, stew, risotto, etc
How to eat: Paella, rice, risotto, stew, with tomatoes


Cooked sausages

Cooked to perfection.

Why does BrothAUs make their own sausages?

BrothAUs' chef, Andreas Unger, shares with me four main reasons:

#1 - "It's almost impossible to get good quality sausages at a reasonable price in Malaysia. Sausages in Malaysia contain bread and flour, not 100% meat."

#2 - "I'm allergic to monosodium glutamate (MSG), one of the most-used ingredients in commercial sausages in restaurants in Malaysia. I believe there are also people out there who suffer the same condition."

#3 - "From the research that I've done, I found out that a commercial sausage contains 18.5% carbohydrates although pork in itself has normally 0% carbohydrates. These extra carbs come from the additional bread and flour in the sausages. This is not good."

#4 - "Most sausages contain artificial flavor enhancer that causes problems to my digestive system. I believe this happen to some people too."

"These are the reasons why I started making my own sausages. A German can't be permanently without a nice sausage."

Andreas also says that his homemade sausages casings are edible sheepskin casings, sourced from a supplier in Malaysia. This is great! At least we know we are not eating plastic.


Good finger food for toddlers

This is how my toddler eats his sausages.

The best sausage to offer to toddlers is the Weisswurst. Just poke a few holes in a sausage and drop it into a water simmering around 80°C water for about 10 minutes.

 
Bonus recipe!

Sausages, Mushroom & Quinoa “Risotto”

Ingredients:
(Serves 2-3)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 cup brown button mushroom, cut into slices
2 cups English spinach
1 Chorizzo
1 Thuringer Bratwurst
1 Weisswurst
3/4 cup tricolor quinoa, rinsed thoroughly & soaked overnight
1/4 cup mixed millet, white rice, red rice, soaked overnight
4 cups water
Extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle

How to: 

Preheat oven to 200°C. Heat up olive oil in an ovenproof deep pot over medium heat. Cook onions until fragrant. Stir in mushroom and cook, stirring continuously, until softened.

Add in all sausages and cook for about 3-4 minutes. Make sure you have poked some holes in the casings to avoid them from bursting from the heat in the pot.

Drain and rinse the grains, then add them into the pot. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add water. Cover the pot and bring to a vigorous boil. Remove the pot and transfer it into the preheated oven. Bake for 45 minutes.

Blanch the spinach in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain.

Before serving, cut the sausages into bite-sized pieces with a kitchen scissors in the pot to release the juices. Add in blanched spinach. Mix well. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, serve warm.

 
What else does BrothAUs make?

They also bake homemade handcrafted sourdough bread without yeast and sugar. The nutty version contains pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.

These true German breads are very filling. Since they contain only natural ingredients without artificial flavor enhancer, etc, you can be sure that you're eating quality food for your health. Two slices of this sourdough bread with two poached sausages, and some salad – you really can call this dinner for the day.


How to order?
 
Contact Mr. Andreas Unger at 016-398 0716.
Find them on Facebook as well.


Special offers for my readers

FREE delivery for orders of 1kg sausages in Seri Kembangan.

FREE delivery for orders of 3kg (RM180) sausages in Klang Valley. (Normal price: RM195)

Do give Andreas a call for inquiries.

 
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In case you're still wondering why is it necessary to eat homemade, and not processed commercial sausages, watch this video: 15 Horrifying Facts About Processed Meat.

15 Horrifying Facts About Processed Meat
Posted by BuzzFeed Video on Monday, May 5, 2014

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Movie: Iron Sky (2012)

We Come In Peace

Iron Sky (2012) is a Finnish-German-English sci-fi action comedy movie.

Synopsis: Before the end of World War II in the 1940s, a group of German Nazi soldiers fled to space and resided at the dark side of the Moon. It's now the year 2018 and the President of the United States (Stephanie Paul) has sent two men to the moon as a publicity stint for her re-election. One of the astronauts is an African American male model named James Washington (Christopher Kirby). He is captured by the Nazis on the moon, led by Führer Kortzfleisch (Udo Kier) and his ambitious commander, Klaus Adler (Götz Otto). Adler goes to Earth with his fiancé Renate Richter (Julia Dietze) and they join forces with the President's manipulative aide, Vivian Wagner (Peta Sergeant), who uses them to campaign for the President's re-election without realizing their mission to invade the Earth.

One word: BIZARRE! You will either like or loathe this movie because it's full of parodies and a lot of fun-poking at historical and international facts and figures.

I like this movie despite so many negative reviews out there. The idea behind the storyline is unique and entertaining - moon Nazis with one mission, i.e. invade the Earth - just like in history, the Nazis invaded Europe during World War II. 

And, it's a comedy, so really, there's plenty of dumb humor and comic relief, just don't take it too seriously. Follow through the movie and have a good laugh for 1.5 hours.

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Movie: My Way (2011)

They met as enemies, but fate brought them together. 

My Way (2011) is a South Korean war movie inspired by true events.

Synopsis (summarized from here): 1928, Gyeong-seong (modern-day Seoul), Korea. Young Kim Jun-shik, his father, and sister work on the farm of the Hasegawa family in Japanese-occupied Korea. Both Jun-shik and Tatsuo Hasegawa are interested in running and by the time they are teenagers, are fierce competitors.

Tatsuo's grandfather is killed in a bomb attack by a Korean terrorist and subsequently a Korean runner, Son Gi-jeong, wins a marathon race against Japanese competitors, further inflaming Korean-Japanese tensions.

May 1938 - Jun-shik (Jang Dong-gun) is working as a rickshaw runner as Koreans are banned from taking part in sports events and Tatsuo (Joe Odagiri), now a fierce Japanese nationalist, has sworn that a Korean will never again win a race. Though he has been accepted by a medical college in Berlin, Tatsuo decides to stay in Korea to run in the All Japan Trials for the marathon. Son Gi-jeong secretly backs Jun-shik and the latter wins the race, though Tatsuo is awarded the medal when Jun-shik is disqualified for allegedly cheating. Following a riot by Korean spectators, Jun-shik is among those - including his friend Lee Jong-dae (Kim In-gwon) - who are forcibly drafted into the Japanese army.

July 1939 - Jun-shik, along with 100 other Koreans, are in a battle at Nomonhan, on the Mongolian border, where a Chinese sniper, Shirai (Fan Bingbing), avenging the death of her family at the hands of the Japanese, is captured and tortured. Tatsuo, now a colonel, arrives and takes over command. After refusing to join a suicide squad organised by Tatsuo to fight the Soviets, Jun-shik is imprisoned with Shirai but escapes with her, Jong-dae, and others to the River Khalkhin, where Shirai dies after shooting down a Soviet plane. Jun-shik tries to warn the Japanese forces that a large-scale Soviet tank attack is coming but in the ensuing battle Tatsuo refuses to order a retreat.

February 1940 - Jun-shik and Tatsuo end up in Kungursk POW camp, north of Perm, in the Soviet Union, where both Koreans and Japanese are incarcerated together. Under the name of Anton, Jong-dae has become a work-unit leader and helps his Korean friends, while Tatsuo is humiliated and almost killed by Jun-shik in a fight. When news comes that Germany has declared war on the Soviet Union, Jun-shik and Tatsuo are among those forcibly drafted into the Soviet army.

December 1941 - Following a bloody battle against the German army at Hedosk, Jun-shik and Tatsuo set out on a journey westwards that will find them on the beaches of Normandy, France, just prior to the D-Day Allied invasion.

That's a very long and detailed synopsis. In simple words, this 141-minute movie is about a Korean man and a Japanese man who met as enemies, but fate brought them together as they experience humanity that transcends borders and nationalities.

My Way is undeniably, an impressive South Korean production. 

There are a few contributing factors:

• One, excellent visual effects.
• Two, lavish cross-border landscapes - Asia, Russia, Europe (Normandy in France).
• Three, the scale of war sequences is very impressive, graphical, and super bloody.
• Four, there is a solid storyline no matter how absurd and unlikely it is. Some historical facts are a bit off but most of us are not historians, so it doesn't really matter.
• Five, Jang Dong-gun and Joe Odagiri share a very good on-screen chemistry. This might sound weird, but thank goodness the level of bromance is still acceptable. There's actually more emphasis on brotherhood, patriotisme, and sacrificial acts.
• Six, the ending is bittersweet.

More information: Here's very good interview article with the director, Kang Je-Kyu.

If war is your thing, you gotta add this movie to your must-watch list.

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Movie: This Means War (2012)

It's SPY Against SPY.

This Means War (2012) is a romantic comedy action movie.

Synopsis: Best friends Tuck (Tom Hardy) and FDR (Chris Pine) are CIA agents. One day, they discover that they are dating the same woman, Lauren (Reese Witherspoon). Thus begins a war to win her affection by utilizing CIA's staff and gadgets. Who will Lauren choose, and will Tuck and FDR remain friends?

This is a romantic comedy plus action movie. So you can expect much cheesy liners and lovey-dovey scenes plus CIA agents in action scenes. These elements are kinda balanced with enough amount of comic relief moments. This is definitely a popcorn entertainment sort of movie.

I don't find Reese Witherspoon suits to play Lauren. And the way her friend Trish talks is helluva annoying. In fact, the whole Lauren-Trish chemistry is horrible. I think it'd make a difference if Jennifer Aniston plays Lauren and someone else plays Trish. However, the movie is partially saved by the fantastic chemistry and brotherly love between Chris Pine and Tom Hardy. Too bad Til Schweiger (as Heinrich the bad guy) has such short screen-time.

Well, this is a popcorn movie. So, if you don't mind spending money, you can watch it for fun.

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Movie: Hanna (2011)

Adapt or Die

Hanna (2011) is an action-suspense thriller set in Finland and Germany, directed by Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, The Soloist).

Synopsis: A young girl, Hanna (Saoirse Ronan from The Lovely Bones) lives with her father, Erik Heller (Eric Bana) in the harsh wilderness of Finland without connections to the outside world. He raises her as an assassin with all of the skills necessary to kill his long-time rival, Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett).

This movie is a success for Saiorse Ronan who's a rising young female action star. As Hanna, Ronan displays unusual capabilities and expertise in one-on-one combats, even with men twice her size. Her lack of exposure to the outside world causes her to act like a goon in a bewildered state of mind as she travels across Finland, Morocco, Spain, and Germany. Her ability to converse in a few languages fluently is captivating. Overall, Ronan's performance is fantastic for an actress her age.

Needless to say, Oscar-winning Cate Blanchett as the icy, redhead agent Wiegler sends chills down your spine. Coldblooded and ruthless, she does everything in her will, even if she has to team up with assassins outside the boundary of law, to wipe off Erik and Hanna's existence from the face of the earth.

The winning elements of this movie are the crisply choreographed and intense action sequences coupled with an incredible score by The Chemical Brothers. The score complements very well with slow-mo and stylish yet intense fight compositions. You could feel a wide spectrum of emotions - joy, hope, fear, bewilderment, tension, etc. The soundtrack is praised for its mix of violence and innocence that brings forth the uniqueness of this movie.

My beef is with the weak storyline. It'd be much better if the back story is given more onscreen exposure compared to the cat-and-mouse game among Hanna, Erik, and Wiegler. Hanna's character needs more development, not just a few minutes of verbal explanation of who she is. We can hardly relate to her and feel her torment.

Recommended for action junkies. Saoirse Ronan is no Angelina Jolie but given another 5 years or so, she'll be the next action star.

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Movie: Sword of War (2009)

Sword of War (2009) is a historical war movie set primarily in northern Italy when the Battle of Legnano was fought on 29 May 1176, between the forces of the Holy Roman Empire, led by emperor Frederick Barbarossa, and the Lombard League.

Synopsis: During the 12th century, German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (Rutger Hauer) triumphs over enemy lands to revitalize the once-great empire. But he must contend with Italian Alberto da Giussano (Raz Degan) and his "Company of Death", which is comprised of 900 angry men. They are all willing to fight to the death at the epic Battle of Legnano.

This movie is educational and entertaining as well. I learned about the Battle of Legnano that took place before the Crusades. Cinematography is pretty good and if you're a fan of epic wars like my sister, you'll enjoy watching the slo-mo battle scenes.

Some acting are rather stiff and not impressive. The cast's mother tongue is definitely not English, so you'll be listening to rather funny slang throughout the entire movie.

However, the main characters - the ambitious Emperor Barbarossa, the traitor Barozzi, and the courageous Alberto - are really good in their performance. The ladies give pretty impressive performance too - Alberto's wife Eleonora (Kasia Smutniak), Eleonora's sister Tessa (Federica Martinelli), and Barbarossa's Queen, Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy (Cécile Cassel).

Do catch it on DVD if you like to watch historical war movies.

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Movie: Unknown (2011)

Take back your life.

Unknown (2011) is an action thriller based on the novel by Didier van Cauwelaert.

Here's the synopsis: Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) awakens after a car accident in Berlin to discover that his wife Liz (January Jones) suddenly doesn't recognize him and another man (Aidan Quinn) has assumed his identity. Ignored by disbelieving authorities and hunted by assassins, he finds himself alone, tired, and on the run.

On his own in a strange country, Martin seeks aid from an unlikely and reluctant source Gina (Diane Kruger) as he plunges headlong into a deadly mystery that will force him to question his sanity, his identity, and just how far he's willing to go to uncover the truth.

My verdict about this movie is that it's a brilliant action thriller with an effective and interesting twist in the ending.

Here's a concise and helpful comment from IMDb: "An ingenious script that echoes concepts, plotting, pace and intrigue from mysteries such as Nowhere Man, Frantic and The Bourne Identity. Once again, Liam Neeson shows his prowess in choosing projects of high interest and executes a performance that connects well with his audience.

To put this in context, mystery thrillers are very hard to pull off anymore. Filmmakers must create layers of mysteries that the audience cannot easily second guess, peel them back one by one to reveal answers that themselves sometimes turn into mysteries later, and resolve all of them in 2 hours without seeming contrived or obvious. To make it more challenging, the characters must be empathetic, the action sequences satisfying, the pace agreeable, the dialog convincing, and the setting compelling.

Director Jaume Collet-Serra has pulled it off again, following on the heels of another successful thriller, Orphan. This director is a rising star."

Highly recommended.

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Weekend DVD 2: The Red Baron (2008)

One warrior ruled the sky.

The Red Baron (2008) is a German biopic about the legendary World War I fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen.

Baron Manfred von Richthofen (Matthias Schweighöfer), known as The Red Baron is the most celebrated pilot of the German Air Force in World War I. Along with his fellow pilots, Werner Voss (Til Schweiger), Friedrich Sternberg, and his brother Lothar von Richthofen, they take pride in piloting their planes and engage in air combats as though they are participating in sport events.

As the war drags on, Manfred realizes that he's being manipulated for propaganda by Kaiser Wilhelm II. At the same time, he has also fallen in love with a nurse named Käte.

This movie is rather slow-paced and unexpectedly humdrum despite having the German Air Force World War I as the main theme. Nevertheless, the air combat scenes are pretty well-done although I'm not quite sure whether they're done with CG effects.

Overall, this is not a very exciting movie. However, its educational value deserves praises. Now I know Germany has good soldiers too. :)

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Weekend DVD 1: Defiance (2008)

Freedom begins with an act of defiance!

A true story.

It's August 1941. The Jewish Bielski brothers - Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber), Asael (Jamie Bell), and Aron (George MacKay) escaped from the massacre of the German soldiers in their village where their parents and many other Jews were either killed or sent to concentration camps.

The four brothers hide in the Belarussian forests and soon, other runaway Jews join them. Tuvia the eldest begins to assume leadership among the survivors and builds a village/community. Zus wants to fight the Germans and he chooses to leave the community and join the Soviet partisans. Tuvia continues his role as caretaker to protect all new and surviving Jews in his village with his two younger brothers and fight for food and ammunition.

This is a very inspirational movie with a touchy topic: the Holocaust. Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, and Jamie Bell give us powerful, impressive, and provoking performance as the Bielski brothers. You could feel the pain, loss, and suffering caused by war and death among the survivors. You could feel their strong determination to continue surviving amidst hardship. Some of them are at the brink of losing their faith at some point of time. This is indeed a very touching and intense movie.

Moreover, the beauty of this movie also lies in its balanced and non-provocative approach to uncover mankind's past, and possibly the worst history of genocide ever. You won't be stirred up too much to hate the SS or the Russian partisans or the Jews or anyone. There's no ground to harbor hatred and revenge. All you want to see is the possibility to survive and nothing else.

The movie ends with this statement. "The Bielskis never sought recognition for what they did, and that the descendants of the people they saved now number in the tens of thousands." This is amazing.

Final verdict: Highly recommended.

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