Carniolan sausage

Variations and preparation

The Käsekrainer is a variation of this sausage made with small chunks of cheese - it contains 10% to 20% cheese (e.g. Emmentaler) cut into small cubes. Käsekrainer were first made in Austria in the early 1980s. As of 2019 they are a standard offering at sausage stands (Würstelstände). Käsekrainer can be boiled, baked or grilled. It is essential to keep them on low to medium heat; otherwise the outside may get burned and the inside remains cold. Care should be taken when preparing them, because the cheese can become quite hot; the sausages should not be cut or poked while cooking, otherwise the melting cheese would be released.

The sausage can be served with mustard, ketchup, and a piece of dark bread; or - in the most common form in Austria - as a Käsekrainer-Hot-Dog. (By Hot Dog Austrians mean the bun, not the sausage.) The bread used is very similar to a French baguette, but shorter (200 to 250 mm (7.9–9.8 in) long). The bun is cut open at one end and a hole is poked into it with a warm 1-inch-diameter (25 mm) metal rod. The next step is to put sauce in the hole. Austrians usually select from the following three sauces: sharp mustard, sweet mustard, and ketchup. Often the choice is ketchup and one – or even both – of the mustards.

In the late 1940s and the 1950s post-war immigrants from Croatia and Slovenia introduced kranjska klobasa into Australia, where it became known as Kransky. Cheese Kransky is very popular in Australia and in New Zealand.