Chef Elsa
Almjause (Alpine Hut Snack Board)
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Culinary Explorer
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Kellergatsch (Wine Quarter Leftover Spread)
Created by
The Weinviertel's beloved Heuriger spread, a cheerful tangle of diced Extrawurst, hard-boiled eggs, pickles, and peppers folded into cream cheese and mustard on dark bread.
Appetizers & Snacks
Austrian
Outdoor Dining
Budget Friendly
20 min
Active Time
12 min cook•32 min total
Yield6 servings
Every Heuriger in the Weinviertel has its own version of this spread, and every Buschenschank owner will tell you theirs is the right one. That's part of the charm. Kellergatsch is what happens when a wine tavern cook looks at whatever is left over from yesterday's Brettljause and decides nobody is going home hungry.
I first tasted it on one of those childhood trips with Gretel and my grandmother Eva, somewhere between Retz and Poysdorf, at a Heuriger with a grape arbor so thick the afternoon light came through green. The Wirt brought out a wooden board with three or four Aufstriche, and this one, pink and flecked with bits of pickle and pepper, disappeared before I could get a second helping. Gretel asked the man what was in it. He shrugged and said, "Everything from yesterday." She laughed, and then she got the recipe out of him anyway. She always did.
Kellergatsch is not a dish that asks for precision. It's a spread built on good instincts and whatever you have. Extrawurst, the mild, smooth Austrian sausage that every child grows up eating, gets diced small. Hard-boiled eggs, pickles, peppers, onion, all chopped to roughly the same size so every bite has a bit of everything. You fold it all through cream cheese loosened with a spoonful of mustard, and you spread it thick on dark bread. That's it. Ten minutes of chopping, no cooking beyond boiling the eggs, and you have something that makes a bottle of Grüner Veltliner very happy.
Kellergatsch belongs to the Aufstrich tradition of Lower Austria's Heuriger wine taverns, where vintners with a seasonal license serve their own wine alongside cold platters and spreads. The name likely derives from 'Keller' (cellar) and a dialect word for 'hodgepodge,' reflecting its origins as a thrifty way to use up leftover cold cuts, eggs, and pickled vegetables from the previous day's Brettljause. The Weinviertel, Austria's largest wine region north of Vienna, developed its own distinct Heuriger food culture around these simple, no-waste preparations that exist to accompany the local Grüner Veltliner and Zweigelt.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Extrawurst (or good-quality bologna)
Quantity
200g
finely diced
eggs
Quantity
3 large
hard-boiled and finely diced
Essiggurkerl (pickled gherkins)
Quantity
4 medium
finely diced
white onion
Quantity
1 small
finely diced
green bell pepper (Paprika)
Quantity
1 small
finely diced
pickled mild pepper rings (Pfefferoni)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
finely chopped
cream cheese (Frischkäse)
Quantity
200g
at room temperature
Austrian mustard (Kremser Senf or Estragonsenf)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
pickle brine
Quantity
1 tablespoon
sunflower oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
salt
Quantity
to taste
white pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
sweet Hungarian paprika
Quantity
to taste
fresh chives
Quantity
for finishing
finely cut
dark rye bread or Hausbrot
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Extrawurst (or good-quality bologna)finely diced | 200g |
| eggshard-boiled and finely diced | 3 large |
| Essiggurkerl (pickled gherkins)finely diced | 4 medium |
| white onionfinely diced | 1 small |
| green bell pepper (Paprika)finely diced | 1 small |
| pickled mild pepper rings (Pfefferoni)finely chopped | 2 tablespoons |
| cream cheese (Frischkäse)at room temperature | 200g |
| Austrian mustard (Kremser Senf or Estragonsenf) | 2 tablespoons |
| pickle brine | 1 tablespoon |
| sunflower oil | 1 tablespoon |
| salt | to taste |
| white pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
| sweet Hungarian paprika | to taste |
| fresh chivesfinely cut | for finishing |
| dark rye bread or Hausbrot | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Small saucepan for boiling eggs
- •Sharp knife and cutting board
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Flexible spatula
- •Earthenware crock or wooden Brettl for serving
Instructions
- 1
Boil the eggs
Place three eggs in a small pot and cover with cold water by about two centimeters. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for ten minutes. Transfer to a bowl of ice water and let them cool completely before peeling. Cold eggs dice cleanly. Warm eggs crumble into mush and your spread will look like you lost an argument with it.
Older eggs peel better than fresh ones. If you bought eggs today, add a teaspoon of vinegar to the boiling water. It won't fix the problem entirely, but it helps. - 2
Dice everything small
Dice the Extrawurst, peeled eggs, Essiggurkerl, onion, green pepper, and Pfefferoni into pieces roughly the size of a small pea. Everything should be close to the same size. This matters more than people think. Kellergatsch works because every bite delivers a bit of sausage, a bit of egg, a bit of pickle, a bit of crunch. If you leave the pieces too large, you get a salad. Too fine and you lose the texture that makes it interesting. A small, even dice is the whole technique of this dish.
- 3
Build the base
In a mixing bowl, stir the cream cheese with the mustard, pickle brine, and sunflower oil until smooth and slightly loosened. You want it spreadable, not stiff. The cream cheese needs to be at room temperature or it will fight you. Straight from the fridge it clumps around the diced ingredients instead of binding them. If you forgot to take it out early, give it thirty seconds in the microwave, no more.
Kremser Senf is a medium-hot Austrian mustard from the town of Krems. If you can't find it, a good Dijon works. What you don't want is bright yellow American mustard. The flavor is wrong for this. - 4
Fold and season
Add all the diced ingredients to the cream cheese mixture and fold gently with a spatula. You're folding, not stirring. Stirring breaks up the egg and turns the spread murky. Fold until everything is evenly distributed and coated. Season with salt, white pepper, and a good pinch of sweet paprika. Taste it. The pickle brine and mustard should give it a tangy backbone, the Extrawurst brings salt and meatiness, and the peppers add a green, fresh bite. If it tastes flat, it needs more mustard or another splash of pickle brine. Trust your tongue.
- 5
Rest and serve
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes. An hour is better. The resting time lets the flavors talk to each other. The pickle brine soaks into the egg, the mustard mellows slightly, the cream cheese firms up around everything. When you're ready to serve, mound the Kellergatsch into an earthenware crock or pile it generously onto a wooden board. Scatter fresh chives over the top and set out thick slices of dark rye bread alongside. This is Heuriger food. It belongs outside, with wine, with friends, with no agenda beyond eating well. Mahlzeit!
Chef Tips
- •Extrawurst is Austria's everyday sausage, mild and finely ground, somewhere between mortadella and bologna. If you're outside Austria, a good-quality bologna is the closest substitute. What you don't want is anything smoked or heavily spiced. The spread needs that clean, mild meatiness as a canvas for the pickles and mustard to work against.
- •Let the finished spread sit overnight if you can. Kellergatsch made the day before is always better than Kellergatsch made an hour ago. The Heuriger cooks in the Weinviertel know this. They make it in the afternoon and serve it the next day.
- •This is meant to be served with wine, specifically a cold glass of Grüner Veltliner. The acidity of the wine and the tang of the spread are old friends. If you're not drinking, sparkling water with a slice of lemon does the same job of cutting through the richness.
- •Don't skip the pickle brine. It does more work than you'd expect. Without it the spread is rich and pleasant but a little one-dimensional. The brine gives it that sharp, vinegary edge that makes you reach for another piece of bread.
Advance Preparation
- •Kellergatsch improves overnight. Make it a day ahead, cover tightly, and refrigerate. The flavors deepen and the texture settles.
- •Hard-boiled eggs can be made up to three days ahead and stored unpeeled in the fridge.
- •The diced vegetables can be prepped several hours ahead and kept separately in the fridge. Fold them into the cream cheese base no more than a day before serving to keep the peppers crisp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 160g)
Calories
275 calories
Total Fat
24 g
Saturated Fat
10 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
14 g
Cholesterol
145 mg
Sodium
950 mg
Total Carbohydrates
5 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
10 g
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