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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Kaminwurzen und Landjäger (Tyrolean Dried Sausage Board)
Created by
Tyrolean dried sausages fanned across a wooden Brettl board with freshly grated Kren, sharp mustard, dark Schwarzbrot, and crunchy Essiggurkerl. Alpine hiking provisions turned into the finest thing on the table.
Appetizers & Snacks
Austrian
Picnic
Outdoor Dining
20 min
Active Time
0 min cook•20 min total
Yield4 servings
Every summer when Gretel and my grandmother Eva took me to Austria, we'd stop somewhere in the Tyrolean Alps on the drive from Salzburg. There was always a Jausenstation, one of those half-farmhouse, half-restaurant places perched on a mountainside where you sit outside on a bench and they bring you a wooden board covered in dried sausage, dark bread, and horseradish so fresh it makes your eyes water. I was maybe eight the first time I understood that this was a complete meal. Nothing cooked, nothing warm, nothing complicated. Just extraordinary ingredients on a board, and a view that went on forever.
Kaminwurzen are the soul of Tyrolean charcuterie. They're cold-smoked over beechwood in farmhouse chimneys, sometimes for weeks, until the meat dries to a firm, deep-red chew with a smoky edge that hits you at the back of your throat. Landjäger are their flatter, more portable cousins: pressed into a distinctive rectangular shape, air-dried until almost hard, the kind of thing a hunter or a hiker would slip into a rucksack because they last for days without refrigeration. Together on a board, they tell you everything about how Tyroleans eat when they're outdoors, working, or sitting on an Alm watching the light change over the Zillertal.
The board itself is not a recipe in the usual sense. You don't cook anything. But the assembly matters. The way you slice the sausages, the sharpness of the Kren, the quality of the bread, the crunch of the pickles. This is Austrian cooking at its most honest: good ingredients, presented simply, with nothing to hide behind. If your Kaminwurzen aren't worth eating on their own, no arrangement on a board will save them.
Kaminwurzen take their name from 'Kamin,' the chimney or open hearth of a Tyrolean farmhouse, where sausages were hung above the smoldering fire and slowly cold-smoked through the winter months. The practice dates back centuries as a preservation method in Alpine valleys where fresh meat was scarce from November to March. Landjäger, meaning 'country hunter,' were developed as field rations for soldiers and hunters across the Alpine regions of Austria, Switzerland, and southern Germany, with their distinctive pressed rectangular shape designed to stack flat in a pack. The Tyrolean Jause, a cold snack board of dried meats, bread, and sharp condiments, remains the standard meal at mountain huts and Almwirtschaften across the Austrian Alps today.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Kaminwurzen (Tyrolean cold-smoked dried sausage)
Quantity
200g (2-3 pieces)
Landjäger (pressed dried sausage)
Quantity
200g (2-3 pairs)
fresh horseradish root (Kren)
Quantity
1 piece, about 10cm
sharp Austrian mustard (Kremser Senf or similar)
Quantity
3 tablespoons
dark rye bread (Schwarzbrot)
Quantity
8 slices
cornichons or pickled gherkins (Essiggurkerl)
Quantity
6-8
radishes
Quantity
4-6
quartered
red onion
Quantity
1 small
sliced into thin rings
Tiroler Graukäse or Bergkäse (optional)
Quantity
100g
sliced or broken into chunks
Verhackert (smoked bacon spread) (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
freshly cracked black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Kaminwurzen (Tyrolean cold-smoked dried sausage) | 200g (2-3 pieces) |
| Landjäger (pressed dried sausage) | 200g (2-3 pairs) |
| fresh horseradish root (Kren) | 1 piece, about 10cm |
| sharp Austrian mustard (Kremser Senf or similar) | 3 tablespoons |
| dark rye bread (Schwarzbrot) | 8 slices |
| cornichons or pickled gherkins (Essiggurkerl) | 6-8 |
| radishesquartered | 4-6 |
| red onionsliced into thin rings | 1 small |
| Tiroler Graukäse or Bergkäse (optional)sliced or broken into chunks | 100g |
| Verhackert (smoked bacon spread) (optional) | 2 tablespoons |
| freshly cracked black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Large wooden cutting board or Brettl (40cm or larger)
- •Sharp slicing knife
- •Microplane or fine box grater for Kren
- •Small crock or bowl for mustard
Instructions
- 1
Slice the Kaminwurzen
Peel away the natural casing from the Kaminwurzen if it's thick and papery. If the casing is thin and edible, leave it. Slice on a sharp diagonal, about three millimeters thick. The angle matters: a diagonal cut exposes more of the interior, which means more smoky aroma reaching your nose before the first bite. The slices should show a deep ruby-red center with a darker, firmer edge where the smoke penetrated. Fan them out as you cut so they don't stick together.
A sharp knife is the only technique that matters here. If you're tearing the meat instead of slicing cleanly through it, your knife needs sharpening. Dried sausage punishes a dull blade. - 2
Slice the Landjäger
Landjäger come in pairs, pressed flat and joined at the side. Separate them first. Slice each piece on the diagonal into pieces about five millimeters thick, a little thicker than the Kaminwurzen because Landjäger is denser and drier. The texture should be firm and slightly chewy, almost like a very lean bresaola. If your Landjäger crumbles when you cut it, it's been over-dried. Still good for eating, but cut it into chunks instead of slices and don't fight it.
- 3
Prepare the Kren
Peel the horseradish root and grate it finely on a Microplane or the finest holes of a box grater. Do this just before serving. Freshly grated Kren has a sharp, nasal heat that fades within thirty minutes once it's exposed to air. If you grate it ahead of time, you'll end up with a sad, mild pile of white fiber that does nothing for the board. A squeeze of lemon juice stirred through the gratings slows the fading, but fresh is always better.
Grate the Kren near an open window or be prepared for your eyes to water. Good Kren is aggressive. That's the point. If it doesn't make you blink, it's old. - 4
Prepare the accompaniments
Slice the Schwarzbrot into manageable pieces. If you're using Schüttelbrot, the traditional Tyrolean crisp-bread, break it into rough shards rather than trying to cut it (it will shatter anyway). Quarter the radishes. Slice the red onion into thin rings and separate them. Halve the Essiggurkerl lengthwise. If you're including Graukäse, slice it thinly or break it into rough pieces with your hands. It's a crumbly, sharp cheese that doesn't pretend to be elegant, and that's exactly right for this board.
- 5
Assemble the Brettl
Use a large wooden board, a Brettl. This is not a plate situation. Arrange the Kaminwurzen slices in a fanned row on one side and the Landjäger on the other, keeping them separate so people can taste the difference. Put the freshly grated Kren in a small mound, the mustard in a small crock or bowl. Scatter the Essiggurkerl, radish quarters, and onion rings in the gaps. Lean the bread against the edges or pile it to one side. If you're using Verhackert, put a small spoonful on the board with a knife for spreading. Finish with a few cracks of black pepper over the sausage slices.
Don't overthink the arrangement. At every Jausenstation I've been to in Tyrol, the board arrives looking abundant but not designed. The beauty is in the ingredients, not in how carefully you placed each radish. - 6
Serve immediately
Put the board on the table and let people help themselves. The Tyrolean way is to take a slice of sausage, fold it onto a piece of dark bread, add a dab of mustard or a pinch of Kren, and eat it with your hands. The Essiggurkerl and radishes are palate cleansers between bites. If you've got a bottle of Grüner Veltliner or a cold Austrian beer, open it now. Mahlzeit!
Chef Tips
- •Source matters more than anything on this board. A good Kaminwurzen from a Tyrolean producer will have a complex, slightly tangy smokiness that a generic dried sausage simply can't match. Look for Austrian or South Tyrolean imports at specialty delis. If you can't find Kaminwurzen specifically, a good quality cold-smoked Hungarian kolbász is closer in spirit than any supermarket salami.
- •Landjäger are easier to find outside Austria than Kaminwurzen. German and Swiss delis stock them regularly. Look for pairs that are still slightly pliable, not rock-hard. If they bend a little when you press them, they're in good shape.
- •Gretel always said the Kren makes or breaks a Jause board. Buy the root whole, never the jarred stuff. Prepared horseradish in a jar has vinegar and preservatives that turn it into something else entirely. The fresh root has a clean, fierce heat that cuts through the fat of the sausage and wakes up your whole mouth.
- •This board improves with a proper Austrian mustard. Kremser Senf is medium-sharp with a slight sweetness. If you can't find it, a good Dijon is closer in character than American yellow mustard, but it's still not the same thing. It's worth ordering the real thing online if you're going to make this more than once.
Advance Preparation
- •Kaminwurzen and Landjäger can be sliced up to two hours ahead and covered loosely with a clean cloth. Don't cling film them tightly or they'll sweat and lose their texture.
- •Essiggurkerl, radishes, and onion rings can be prepared an hour in advance and kept in a bowl in the fridge.
- •Kren must be grated at the last moment. No exceptions. Its heat fades fast and you cannot get it back.
- •The entire board can be assembled five minutes before guests arrive, with the Kren grated and added just before you carry it to the table.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 275g)
Calories
700 calories
Total Fat
44 g
Saturated Fat
18 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
26 g
Cholesterol
110 mg
Sodium
2585 mg
Total Carbohydrates
36 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
41 g
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