What is a cervelat?

Cervelat, also cervelas, servelat or zervelat, is a sausage produced in Switzerland, France (especially Alsace and Lyon) and parts of Germany. The recipe and preparation of the sausage vary regionally.

The taste of the sausages depends on the region, but generally they are similar to that of a frankfurter, but with a smokier flavour and a texture brought about by its fat shape and the tightly wrapped natural casing. Various European semi-dry cervelat are similar to summer sausage in the U.S.A and Thuringian sausage can be considered a type of cervelat.

The cervelat is often referred to as the national sausage of Switzerland. Some 160 million cervelats are produced in Switzerland annually, which is equivalent to a consumption of 25 cervelats per person each year. Grilling cervelats over an open fire with the ends cut open so they expand like a butterfly's wings is a childhood memory for nearly every Swiss person; as a result, many Swiss are emotionally attached to the sausage. Swiss cervelats are made of roughly equal parts of beef, pork, bacon, pork rind and ice, which helps bind the ingredients, along with spices, curing salt and cutter additives.