What's in a (sausage's) name?

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Sausage consumption in Europe isn't an issue. Sausage naming is.

NewEurope Online reports that the European Commission has received an application from Slovenia for official recognition and protected status for the "Krainer Wurst." Other countries who might want to lay claim to the famous sausage or to dispute the Slovenian claim have six months to register their objections.

The European Commission awards Protected Geographical Indication status to foods when it can be proven they are regional specialties. (Think champagne from a certain region in France.) The status allows the area that originated them to use that name exclusively and to license it to others. A successful Slovenian claim means Austria would have to rename its extremely popular cheese-filled Kaesekrainer sausage. According to NewEurope, the head of the Vienna chamber of commerce, Josef Bitzinger, says sausage stand operators all over Vienna will not rename their products.

Slovenia claims the minced pork and season sausage was invented in northern Slovenia in the 1800s. A complication is that Slovenia was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire at the time. Austrians and Slovenians should eat sausages all summer and negotiate a peaceful solution to a potential impasse. BP