A Vienna sausage (Viennese/Austrian German: Frankfurter Würstel or Würstl, Swiss German Wienerli, Swabian: Wienerle or Saitenwurst, German: Wiener Würstchen, Wiener, French: Saucisse de strasbourg or Saucisse de francfort, Swiss Romand: Saucisse de vienne, Hungarian: virsli, Italian: Würstel, Polish parówka and Romanian crenvurșt) is a kind of hot dog. The word wiener means Viennese in German.
The sausage was invented by a butcher from Frankfurt, who had moved to Vienna, which is why in Vienna the sausage is called Frankfurter.
In some European countries pre-cooked and often smoked wieners bought fresh from supermarkets, delicatessens and butcher shops may be called by a name (such as in German or French) which translates in English as vienna sausage. Wieners sold as vienna sausage in Europe have a taste and texture very much like North American hot dogs or frankfurters but are usually longer and somewhat thinner, with a very light, edible casing. European vienna sausage served hot in a long bun with condiments is often called a hot dog, harking not to the wiener itself, but to the long sandwich as a whole.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
In North America the term vienna sausage has most often come to mean only smaller and much shorter smoked and canned wieners, rather than hot dogs.[7] North American vienna sausages are made from meat such as chicken, beef, turkey and pork (or blends thereof) finely ground to a paste consistency and mixed with salt and spices, notably mustard, then stuffed into a long casing, sometimes smoked and always thoroughly cooked, after which the casings are removed as with hot dogs. The sausages are then cut into short segments for canning and further cooked. They are also available packed in chili or barbecue sauces.
As with any sausage, the ingredients, preparation, size and taste can vary widely by both manufacturer and region of sale.