Utopenci

Ingredients

Sausages

• 10špekáčky or similar fat cooked pork sausages
• 3onions, sliced into rings
• 2red peppers, cut in strips
• 4pickled gherkins, sliced

Pickle

• 500 mlwater
• 250 mlwhite vinegar
• 2 tbspsalt
• 2 tbspsugar
• 2 tspblack peppercorns
• 1 tspwhole allspice
• 4bay leaves
• 2dried chillies
• 1 tbspmustard seed

To serve

• dark rye bread
• cold beer

Directions

1. Cut each sausage lengthwise almost all the way through, so it opens like a book but stays in one piece. This is what lets the pickle reach the middle instead of just the skin.
2. Bring the water, vinegar, salt, sugar, peppercorns, allspice, bay, chilli and mustard seed to a boil, stir until the salt and sugar dissolve, then cool completely. Hot pickle poured over sausages makes the fat run and the skins wrinkle.
3. Pack the sausages into a clean jar, layering the onion rings, pepper strips and gherkin slices between and inside them.
4. Pour over the cold pickle so everything is fully submerged. Weight anything that floats — a sausage sitting above the liquid will spoil while the rest is fine.
5. Seal and refrigerate for at least 10 days before eating. They are edible after five but genuinely good after ten, when the onion has softened and the sausage has taken the spice all the way through.
6. Serve cold from the jar with dark bread, plenty of the pickled onion, and beer. They keep three weeks in the fridge.

Technique

• Cool the pickle before it goes over. It is the only step people rush and the only one that shows.
• Refrigerated, not on the counter. The pub jars sit out because they turn over in days; a home jar does not.
• Use fat sausages. Lean ones go dry and grainy in the vinegar.

Substitutions

• Any cooked pork sausage of similar size — bratwurst or a Polish parówka work.
• Cider vinegar for white, which is softer.
• A spoonful of tomato purée in the pickle, which some Czech pubs add.

Variations

• A version with sliced Hermelín cheese layered in alongside the sausages.
• Some households use half the vinegar and eat them within a week, which is milder.

History

Drowned men: sausages pickled in vinegar with onion and pepper in large jars on the pub counter, eaten with dark bread.

Frequently asked questions

What is Utopenci?

Utopenci is a fermented & pickled from Czechia: ‘Drowned men’: pickled sausages with onion, a pub staple. Drowned men: sausages pickled in vinegar with onion and pepper in large jars on the pub counter, eaten with dark bread.

How long does Utopenci take to make?

Utopenci takes 30 min plus 10 days pickling of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes fills a 2-litre jar, serves 8. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Utopenci?

Yes, within limits. Any cooked pork sausage of similar size — bratwurst or a Polish parówka work. Cider vinegar for white, which is softer. A spoonful of tomato purée in the pickle, which some Czech pubs add.

What is the most important thing to get right in Utopenci?

Cut each sausage lengthwise almost all the way through, so it opens like a book but stays in one piece. This is what lets the pickle reach the middle instead of just the skin.