Pickled Liverwurst

When you talk about pickling, most people will think about vegetables and fruits, but you can also pickle meat. This is a recipe of pickled liverwurst; something I ate a very long time ago, in my early twenties, at a get-together with friends. It is pretty straight forward to make and adds a nice flavor to the sausage.

Liverwurst, liver sausage or leberwurst or whatever you may call it, is here most-known in a liverwurst sandwich. This type sausage is found in Northern and Eastern European countries, and also in countries where people of those regions migrated to. Like here in the US, or in South America. Also in the Netherlands, where was born, there is a lot of German influence in our cuisine, and the liverwurst is one of them.

There are many different types of liverwurst, fine, coarse, different flavors, and different sizes. Traditionally eaten on an open-faced sandwich or as a snack, with a pickle or mustard on top. Another way to enjoy liverwurst is to pickle it.

What do you need for pickled liverwurst

• liverwurst
• vinegar
• water
• black peppercorns
• bay leaves
• cloves
• onion

Making the pickled liverwurst is not difficult at all. Clean and sterilize the glass jar(s) as you would do for any pickled vegetable or fruit you make. There are various methods out there, I prefer the oven method. Place the cleaned jars on a baking sheet and place in an oven that has been heated to approx. 275 degrees F. Leave in the oven for 10 minutes by which time the jars should be completely dry. Allow them to cool.

Important note: Do NOT add cold food to hot jars, or hot food to cold jars. Glass is not very flexible in that respect, the jar may break or even shatter.

Cook the lids in boiling water for about 10 minutes.

1. Slice the liverwurst, nice and thick, about 1/2-inch. If you slice it too thin it may fall apart while floating in the liquid. I used the Golden Medal Pate; a very soft liverwurst and it was on the edge of being too soft for pickling, but it worked out just fine.
2. Bring water, sliced onion, peppercorns, bay leaves and cloves and cook for a few minutes. Turn off the heat and add the vinegar. Allow to cool completely.
3. Poor a little bit of the water-vinegar mixture in a jar, add the sliced liverwurst and add the remaining of the water-vinegar mixture. Make sure the liverwurst is submerged.
4. Close jar and place it in the fridge.

That’s all. Now you have to wait for at least 3-5 days. The longer you wait the more flavor you will have in your pickled liverwurst.

If you take some of the slices out, but not all, please use a clean fork or spoon. You don’t want to contaminate the jar when you store it away again for a couple of days or weeks.

How long can you keep this? About 2-3 weeks, in the fridge.