Bosna

What it is

The Bosna is a specific kind of street sandwich most closely tied to Salzburg. It consists of a long white roll, briefly toasted, filled with one or two thin bratwurst sausages that have been fried until crisp, topped with onions, chopped parsley and a generous dusting of a curry spice mix, often with a smear of mustard. Everything about it is cheap and hot: a stand, a paper napkin, four minutes.

It is a late-night thing above all, eaten standing in the lanes of the old town after the restaurants have closed. The name seems to point to Bosnia; the sandwich is a Salzburg invention of the mid-20th century, though it has since spread across western Austria and into southern Bavaria.

The disputed origin story

The usual account credits Zanko Todoroff, a Bulgarian-born stall-holder, who began selling it in Salzburg in 1949, first under another name and then from his own small stand in the old town. He reportedly combined the local love for sausages with a spicy seasoning style familiar from their home region, creating a new kind of fast food that quickly gained popularity among workers and night owls.

Even the name is uncertain: one story says Salzburgers could not remember his Bulgarian word for it, another blames a sign painter. Linz has a rival claim of its own from the 1970s, but most sources give Salzburg the credit. What is agreed is that the thing appeared in Salzburg in those years and stayed.

How it is built

Every stand has its own version, and the differences are the sausage, the onions and the curry. Raw onion gives a sharp, hot bite; fried onion makes the whole thing sweeter. The spice runs from barely there to genuinely hot.

The components:

• Two thin bratwurst sausages, fried until the skin cracks and the inside is hot and juicy.
• A long white roll, soft enough to hold the fillings without breaking but sturdy enough not to fall apart.
• Onions, usually raw and finely chopped, providing a sharp contrast to the fatty meat.
• Curry spice, dusted generously over the top, with chopped parsley for colour.
• Mustard, often spread on the roll (in Linz, ketchup too), sharp against the fat of the sausage.

Curious facts

• A name from across the mountains. The word Bosna is usually read as Bosnia, although the man credited with the dish was born in Bulgaria and the true origin of the name is disputed.
• A secret spice. The original curry-like spice mix is still kept secret at the stand that claims the recipe.
• The heat is not standard. Curry levels vary from stand to stand, and asking for it mild or hot is normal.
• It travelled west, not east. The Bosna is on sausage stands across western Austria and southern Bavaria, but it is still thought of as Salzburg's.

Where to try it

A sausage stand in the old town, near the river or off one of the squares, after dark. The stands open late and stay open after the kitchens have shut, which is half the reason the sandwich exists. There is no table, no menu card and no waiting.

An Austrian lager is the usual drink with it, and the cold beer against the curry is the point.