St. Gallen, Switzerland

The OLMA is Switzerland's largest agricultural fair, held every October in St. Gallen since 1943. Eating a St. Galler Bratwurst — here called the OLMA-Bratwurst — at the fair is a ritual so embedded in the event that the sausage and the fair are synonymous in Swiss German. The bratwurst is grilled on-site and served in a Bürli, the soft round roll specific to St. Gallen, with nothing on it. No mustard. This rule is enforced with the particular severity that Swiss regional food customs sometimes attract. The fair draws around 300,000 visitors over eleven days, and the bratwurst counters run from opening to close. The OLMA-Bratwurst is made to the same pale, veal-and-pork specification as the standard St. Galler Bratwurst, but the setting gives it a different weight.