Schmierwurst, along with mettwurst and teewurst, belongs to the category of uncooked or raw sausages (rohwurst) that are typically fermented and smoked. The sausage usually consists of finely ground pork, bacon, and spices such as white pepper and coriander, which are combined into a smooth mixture and then added into a natural or artificial casing.
The preparation of the final product involves fermentation and gentle smoking, yielding a soft sausage that is perfectly good to be enjoyed without additional cooking and can easily be spread over a slice of bread. It is this distinctive soft and spreadable nature of the sausage that has probably been the reason why it had earned the name
schmierwurst, meaning
smear sausage or
sausage spread.