Mettwurst is a strongly flavored German sausage made from raw minced pork preserved by curing and smoking, often with garlic. The southern German variety is soft and similar to Teewurst. Braunschweiger mettwurst is partially smoked but still soft and spreadable, while other northern German varieties such as the Holsteiner are harder and more akin to salami, due to longer duration of smoking. The Low German word mett, meaning minced pork without bacon, is derived from the Old Saxon word meti, and is related to the English word 'meat'. Mettwurst can be prepared and eaten a variety of ways, such as cooked or fried or spread on rye bread with onions and eaten raw. When minced raw pork is prepared without curing or smoking, it is called simply Mett. In South Australia, due to its large German immigration in the 19th Century, mettwurst is very common: it is created in the Northern German style and served as a coldcut. It is often used in school lunches and as a snack during parties. Well-known South Australian brands of mettwurst include Barossa Fine Foods, Butch's Smallgoods, Kalleske, Linke's, Mullers, Steiney's and Wintulich. South Australian mettwurst is not just made from pork meat; kangaroo mettwurst is a popular variant. In the United States, mettwurst is most commonly associated with the city ofCincinnati, where it is regarded as a signature dish. The town of Mineola, Iowa, which was settled almost exclusively by immigrants from Schleswig-Holstein, hosts an annual heritage dinner with "Schoening-style" cold-smoked Mettwurst known in the Low German dialect as "Metvuss". It is important that high quality, fresh ingredients are used otherwise deadly microorganisms and toxins can develop. In January 1995, 23 children became very ill, one of whom died, which the coroner found was a result of eating garlic mettwurst. Finnish meetvursti resembles the Dutch metworst or salami: it is dry, hard, strong-flavored and dense, and is eaten as a cold cut on bread.
