What is a Weißwurstessen? It is a traditional Bavarian meal consisting of sausage, sweet mustard (hey, here is the Händlmaier connection!), fresh pretzels, all washed down with wheat beer. This meal is usually consumed early in the day as breakfast or a mid-morning meal.

Weißwurst, literally white sausage, is a traditional Bavarian sausage made from very finely minced veal and usually flavored with parsley, lemon, mace, onions, ginger and cardamom, though there are some variations. As it is very perishable, there is a saying that the sausages should not be allowed to hear the church bells' noon chime. The sausages are heated in water just short of boiling for about ten minutes, which will turn them grayish-white because no color-preserving nitrite is used in Weißwurst preparation.

Weißwurst is brought to table in a big bowl together with the water used for preparation (so it doesn't cool down too much), then eaten without the skin. The traditional way of cutting open the sausage, then sucking out the meat with the mouth is known as "zutzeln"; another popular and more discreet way of consuming it is by cutting the sausage in half in the long direction so that the lower part of the skin remains intact, and then "rolling out" the meat from the skin with a fork.

Weißwurst is commonly served with sweet mustard and accompanied by Brezen (fresh pretzels) and Weißbier (wheat beer).

It should be noted that Weißwurst is rarely eaten in parts of Germany besides Bavaria - a fact that helped coin the term Weißwurstäquator (white sausage equator).

Weißbier, aka Weizen, literally white beer, is a traditional Bavarian beer brewed from malted wheat and malted barley. It is available in three varieties: Hefeweizen which retains the yeast used in the brewing process and is cloudy, Kristall which has the yeast removed and is transparent, and Dunkelweizen which is brewed with grains that have been roasted longer imparting a darker appearance.

The character of a Weißbier is light in body, has light hop aromas and bitterness, and highly effervescent cloves and or bananas.

The pour of a Weißbier is more important than other styles of beer. To pour it correctly, slowly fill a glass large enough to hold the entire contents about halfway. Swirl the remainder of the beer in the bottle so any yeast that have settled to the bottom on the bottle can be mixed back into the beer. Then slowly pour the remainder of the bottle into the glass forming a tall head.

Still confused?  Check out this video.