Czech · appetizer
Utopenci (Pickled Sausages, the Drowned Men)
Utopenci (Pickled Sausages, the Drowned Men) reads sourness 6.4, allium 4.5 and sweetness 4.4 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Czech appetizer, about 337 hr 25 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.
The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10
- Umami & Savory — 4.4 / 10
- Sweet & Fruity — 4.7 / 10
- Sour & Bright — 6.4 / 10
- Bitter & Earthy — 1.7 / 10
- Rich & Fat — 0.7 / 10
- Aromatic & Spice — 4.9 / 10
The measured notes (of 18)
Sourness 6.4 · Allium 4.5 · Sweetness 4.4 · Salinity 4.2 · Warm Spice 2.5 · Heat 1.7 · Umami 1.6 · Earthy 1.4 · Bitterness 1.2 · Funk & Ferment 1.2 · Floral 0.9 · Fruity 0.9 · Herbaceous 0.7 · Richness 0.6
What's in it (13)
- špekáčky — 800 g
- water — 500 g
- white wine vinegar — 250 g
- caster sugar — 25 g
- salt — 15 g
- onions — 330 g
- garlic — 18 g
- pickled gherkins — 400 g
- dried red chillies — 10 g
- black peppercorns — 1000 g
- allspice — 800 g
- bay leaf — 2 g
- yellow mustard seeds — 5 g
Time & effort: about 337 hr 25 min (25 min active) · effort: medium
Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 131.6 kcal, 3.9 g protein, 2.6 g fat, 33 g carbs
How it's cooked (8 steps)
- Split each sausage lengthways almost through, so it opens like a book but stays in one piece. The cut lets the brine into the middle; whole sausages pickle only on the outside and stay bland at the centre after a month.
- Bring the water, vinegar, sugar, salt, chillies, peppercorns, allspice, bay and mustard seed to a boil and hold it there 5 minutes.
- Take the brine off the heat and cool it completely, about 1 hour. This matters: hot brine poured over raw onion turns it grey and slippery within a day, and crisp onion is half of what you are eating.
- Pack the sausages into a scalded 2 litre jar in layers with the onion rings, sliced garlic and gherkin quarters, 10 minutes of careful stacking.
- Pour the cold brine over so everything is submerged, weight the top layer down with a small saucer if it wants to float, and seal.
- Refrigerate at least 14 days before opening. They are genuinely not ready before then, and they are better at three weeks. They keep 6 weeks.
- Serve cold, with the pickled onion piled on top, dark bread and beer. This is pub food eaten standing up, not a dinner-party starter, and the vinegar is meant to be bracing.
- Substitutions: coarse smoked pork sausages can stand in for the špekáčky.
Dishes with a similar flavor shape
- Chitlins (Chitterlings) with Hot Vinegar Sauce — Soul Food
- Torshi (Egyptian Mixed Pickles) — Egyptian
- Chow Chow (End-of-Garden Relish) — American · Appalachian
- Atchara (Pickled Green Papaya Relish) — Filipino
- Chrzan (Prepared Horseradish Sauce) — Polish
Keep reading: what sourness, allium, sweetness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.
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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.