Chef Elsa
Almjause (Alpine Hut Snack Board)
A wooden board loaded with mountain cheese, juniper-smoked Speck, air-dried Hauswürstel, handmade Liptauer, fresh Kren, and thick-cut Bauernbrot, the way Austrian Almhütten have fed hikers for generations.
Culinary Explorer
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Blunzenaufstrich (Blood Sausage Spread)
Created by
Dark, spiced, and wickedly good: Blunzn mashed with onion, mustard, and marjoram into the kind of spread that disappears first from every Heuriger Brettl, scooped up on torn hunks of dark bread.
Appetizers & Snacks
Austrian
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•15 min total
Yield4 servings
There's a moment at every Heuriger when someone sets down a wooden board and everyone reaches for the same thing first. It isn't the Liptauer. It isn't the Grammelschmalz. It's the Blunzenaufstrich, dark and earthy and spread so thick on bread that you can see the knife marks. I watched this happen a hundred times before I understood why.
Blunzn is blood sausage, and I know that word stops some people cold. Gretel always said you could tell who'd actually eaten well in their life by whether they flinched at blood sausage or reached for the bread knife. She didn't mean it as a test, exactly, but she wasn't entirely joking either. Blood sausage is one of the oldest preserved foods in European cooking. It's thrifty, deeply flavorful, and when you mash it into an Aufstrich with good mustard and sweet onion, it becomes something so savory and rich that people who swore they'd never touch it end up asking for the recipe.
The technique is almost absurdly simple. You skin the Blunzn, mash it with a fork, fold in finely diced onion, a good hit of sharp mustard, marjoram, and a few cracks of pepper. That's it. No cooking, no blender, no fuss. The sausage is already cooked and seasoned. Your job is to loosen it, brighten it, and get it onto bread. What makes it good isn't complexity. It's the quality of the Blunzn and the confidence to let it taste like what it is.
I serve this at my restaurant in Salzburg on our Brettljause board, and it's the thing guests talk about afterward. Not because it's daring, but because it's honest. Good Austrian home cooking at its most direct.
Blunzn (blood sausage) has been a staple of Austrian peasant cooking for centuries, rooted in the tradition of whole-animal butchering that defined rural life across Lower Austria, Burgenland, and the Weinviertel. The Aufstrich (spread) form became a fixture of the Heuriger, the seasonal wine taverns licensed under a 1784 decree by Emperor Joseph II that allowed vintners to sell their own wine and serve simple cold food. Blunzenaufstrich, Liptauer, and Grammelschmalz became the holy trinity of the Brettljause board, each one designed to pair with young wine and coarse bread.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Blunzn (Austrian blood sausage)
Quantity
300g
at room temperature
onion
Quantity
1 small
very finely diced
sharp Austrian mustard (Kremser Senf or Estragonsenf)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
dried marjoram
Quantity
1 teaspoon
sweet paprika
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
lard or schmaltz (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
white wine vinegar
Quantity
a splash
dark rye bread (Schwarzbrot)
Quantity
for serving
cornichons and pickled onions
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Blunzn (Austrian blood sausage)at room temperature | 300g |
| onionvery finely diced | 1 small |
| sharp Austrian mustard (Kremser Senf or Estragonsenf) | 2 tablespoons |
| dried marjoram | 1 teaspoon |
| sweet paprika | 1/2 teaspoon |
| black pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
| lard or schmaltz (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
| white wine vinegar | a splash |
| dark rye bread (Schwarzbrot) | for serving |
| cornichons and pickled onions | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide mixing bowl
- •Sturdy fork
- •Sharp knife for dicing onion
- •Small earthenware crock or wooden Brettl board for serving
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the Blunzn
Slit the casing of the Blunzn lengthwise and peel it away. The sausage inside should be dark, dense, and slightly crumbly. If it's been in the fridge, let it sit at room temperature for twenty minutes first. Cold blood sausage resists mashing and you'll end up with lumps instead of a smooth spread. Scoop the filling into a wide bowl.
The quality of the Blunzn determines everything. Find a proper butcher who makes their own, ideally one with good spicing and a fine texture. A coarse, grainy Blunzn will never mash smooth no matter how hard you work it. - 2
Mash to a paste
Using a sturdy fork, mash the Blunzn until it breaks down into a rough paste. You're not looking for baby food. You want it spreadable but with a little texture left, the kind of consistency where you can still see tiny flecks of fat and spice. If the sausage is very firm and dry, work in a tablespoon of good lard or schmaltz. This loosens the spread and gives it a silky richness on the bread.
A fork gives you the right texture. A food processor turns it into a paste that looks like something from a tube. Use the fork. The unevenness is part of the charm. - 3
Add the seasonings
Fold in the finely diced onion, mustard, marjoram, paprika, and several good cracks of black pepper. The onion must be diced small enough that you taste it in every bite without crunching through large raw pieces. Add a splash of white wine vinegar. Just a little, maybe half a teaspoon. The vinegar lifts the whole spread. Without it, the richness of the blood sausage sits heavy. With it, every bite stays bright.
- 4
Rest and taste
Let the Aufstrich sit at room temperature for at least ten minutes before serving. The marjoram needs time to open up and the onion needs to soften slightly into the fat. Taste it. Does it need more mustard? More pepper? A pinch of salt? The sausage is already seasoned, so be careful, but trust your palate. You want the spread to hit you with savory richness first, then a sharp mustard bite, then the warm earthiness of the marjoram at the finish.
Marjoram is the herb that defines Austrian blood sausage. Don't substitute oregano, which is too sharp and bitter. If you can find fresh marjoram, use twice the amount and chop it fine. - 5
Serve on the Brettl
Spoon the Blunzenaufstrich into a small earthenware crock or pile it directly onto a wooden board. Set out thick slices of dark rye bread, a few cornichons, and pickled onions alongside. This is Heuriger food. You tear the bread, spread it thick, and eat it with a glass of young wine. Nobody is measuring portions. Nobody is using a plate. Mahlzeit!
Chef Tips
- •Kremser Senf is the classic Austrian mustard for this, sharp and horseradish-hot. If you can't find it, a good Dijon works, but add a tiny grating of fresh horseradish to compensate. Sweet American mustard is wrong for this dish.
- •The Aufstrich tastes even better the next day, after the flavors have had overnight to settle into each other. Make it ahead if you're planning a dinner party and store it covered in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature before serving.
- •Serve this as part of a full Brettljause if you want the real Heuriger experience: Blunzenaufstrich, Liptauer, Grammelschmalz, sliced cold meats, pickled vegetables, horseradish, and enough Schwarzbrot to feed a table of hungry people who've been drinking Grüner Veltliner all afternoon.
Advance Preparation
- •Blunzenaufstrich can be made up to two days ahead and stored covered in the fridge. The flavors improve with time. Always bring it to room temperature before serving, at least thirty minutes out of the fridge.
- •The onion can be diced ahead and kept in a small covered bowl, but don't fold it into the spread more than a few hours before serving or it will start to release too much liquid.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 105g)
Calories
325 calories
Total Fat
29 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
90 mg
Sodium
630 mg
Total Carbohydrates
3 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
12 g
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