Sternen Grill ★ 4.4
Bellevue's grill window kept the city fed after the tram stopped for half a century. Bratwurst, devilish Sternen mustard, Buerli, in the open air.
Try: St. Galler Bratwurst with mustard and Buerli
History
The St. Galler Bratwurst, also called the Olma Bratwurst, was protected as a regional speciality in 2008 with a PGI designation. It is a veal sausage with a smaller amount of pork, traditionally eaten on its own with no mustard in St. Gallen, but in Zurich the grill culture insists on sharp mustard and a crisp Buerli bread roll. Sternen Grill on Bellevue, opened in 1963, made it the canonical Zurich late-night sausage with its devilishly sharp Sternen Senf. The sausage casing must be pale and the interior pinkish-grey; coloured or overly meaty is incorrect.
Common allergens: Gluten, Mustard
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 4 St. Galler Bratwurst (about 130g each, sold in Swiss-import or German butcher shops; or substitute pale German bratwurst, Bavarian weisswurst, or French boudin blanc, which all share the milky-pale veal-and-pork structure)
- 4 Buerli bread rolls (Swiss crusty white bread rolls; substitute small crusty Italian-style rolls or French petit pain)
- 60g good sharp Swiss mustard (Sternen Senf style: hot brown mustard with a vinegar lift)
- Optional: 1 large yellow onion, sliced and slow-fried in 2 tbsp butter until deep gold for 15 minutes (zwiebelsauce-style topping)
- Optional: 200ml beef stock and 1 tbsp cornflour for onion sauce
Method
- Score the sausage casings with a sharp knife in 4 or 5 places along their length, very shallowly, so they will not split as they grill.
- Heat a heavy cast-iron pan or a charcoal grill to medium-hot. The bratwurst should never go on a screaming-hot grill; the casing splits and the centre stays raw.
- Grill the sausages 4 to 5 minutes per side, turning twice, until the outside is golden brown with darker char marks and the centre is hot through. Internal temperature should reach 72 degrees Celsius.
- While the sausages cook, slice each Buerli roll partly open lengthways, leaving a hinge.
- If making the optional onion sauce: deglaze the slow-fried onions with the beef stock, reduce by half, whisk in cornflour slurry, simmer 3 minutes to a glossy gravy.
- Lay a hot bratwurst into each split Buerli (or onto each plate). Pipe a generous line of mustard down the centre of the sausage (Swiss convention: never spread the mustard inside the roll). The onion sauce, if used, goes alongside, not over.
- Eat from the hand, walking the Limmatquai or standing at the Sternen Grill counter.
Tip from the editors. The mustard is the dish: a sweet German-style senf is wrong. Source a sharp Swiss or German hot brown mustard. The bratwurst should be cooked just hot in the centre, never overdone; if it splits, the heat was too high.
Where to eat st. galler bratwurst
St. Galler Bratwurst in Zurich
Vorderer Sternen ★ 4.2
Bellevue's other grill window beside Sternen Grill: Cervelat sausage on Buerli bread roll, the easiest cheap Swiss lunch in the city centre.
Try: Cervelat and Bratwurst with Buerli
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