I became curious about salting and fermenting vegetables when I lived in Ukraine and this post summarizes what I learned and provides my adaptation of classic recipes to small batches.
The first summer I worked in Ukraine, a female colleague returned to the office with red-stained hands after a weekend in their family village. When I asked about the stains, she explained that she spent the weekend preparing solinnya (соління, which means salting in Ukrainian) of cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes and beets for winter. Summer provides food for winter, she explained. While I recognized that the word solinnya was derived from sil (сіль) and means salt, I didn’t know specifically what solinnya meant. I recalled seeing large stands of pickles called solinnya at local markets and fairs, but I didn’t understand the process for making them, thinking all pickles were prepared the same way.
Solinnya at a small market
Since ancient times, Ukraine was blessed with incredibly fertile land – a very black soil called chernozem (чернозем) that produces high agricultural yields which for millennia fed its inhabitants. Ukrainians are attached to this bountiful soil that helped them survive through droughts, man-made famines and Soviet shortages, all of which left Ukrainians with an inherited fear of hunger. Even today, Ukrainians still preserve food, using the same traditional methods. According to a 2019 market survey, when there was no food shortage just before the 2022 Russian invasion, over 80% of Ukrainians still maintained a small vegetable garden, and urban dwellers shared gardening chores with relatives in their home villages, splitting the harvest and preserving food for winter.
In pre-refrigeration days, a root cellar or pantry stocked with home-preserved food carried many Ukrainian families through hard times. Mama told me that when she was a child in Luboml, my grandmother Babunia preserved vegetables and meat yearly. In late summer and fall, she salted cabbage, tomatoes and cucumbers in large barrels stored in the root cellar to provide essential nutrients in the coming cold months. Once the yearly hog was butchered in mid-winter, Babunia immediately salted pork belly, fatback, loins and legs so a ham would be cured by Easter.
After my family emigrated to America in the late 1940s, home food preservation did not play a major part in our family diet. In Baltimore, there were no large gardens. Every summer, Babunia bought cucumbers at the public market and nostalgically salted a jar of pickles, but I did not learn how she did it. Having discovered the benefits of water canning, Mama would put up Mason jars of vinegary pickles and tart tomatoes for several years. But as canning was hard work and time-consuming, we bought food as needed for the most part.
After returning to Ukraine in the 1990s, I was intrigued when I learned that many Ukrainian friends spent summer weekends preserving vegetables, cooking and bottling various fruit jams, juices and compotes. I wanted to learn Ukrainian salting and fermentation techniques and adapt recipes to small batches of vegetables.
Brined cabbage with beets and brined tomatoes at Sorochynskiy Fair
Salting and Fermentation
Fermentation has been an essential part of cooking worldwide since ancient times. No one knows when the link between salt and fermentation was recognized, but for millennia, until refrigeration became widespread, mankind used salt as the principal way of preserving food.
Solinnya at Odesa’s Privoz Market
Ukrainians distinguish between salting (соління) and fermenting (квашення). In salting, dry edible salt is massaged into vegetables, drawing out vegetable juices that produce a brine which becomes the fermentation medium. Fermenting also can be triggered by soaking vegetables in salty water – a brine. Depending on the density of the vegetables, both methods are used.
The process is simple: All fermentation starts with salt or salty water, which aids naturally occurring beneficial lacto-fermentation bacteria (Lactobacillus) to convert vegetable sugars and starches into lactic acid, thereby preserving the texture, flavor, and nutrients of fermented foods. Fermentation is an active, natural process that produces large amounts of CO2. Lactobacillus bacteria tolerate and thrive in a salty, acidic environment (while harmful bacteria, yeast, molds and botulism spores do not), promoting the development of probiotics, creating a cultured product crucial to good digestion and boosting the fermented food’s shelf life. Lacto-fermentation differs from canning and pickling because the process does not involve heat or vinegar, both of which destroy the probiotic benefits of fermentation, but canned and vinegar pickled vegetables have an extended shelf-life.
Brined eggplant,, tomato and pepper salad at Sorochynskiy Fair
Guidelines for Fermenting Vegetables
The most frequently fermented vegetables in Ukraine are cabbage, cucumbers and tomatoes. Countless recipes for these three vegetables are available and provide the following guidelines for successful fermentation:
Cleanliness: Preserving food requires sterilized fermentation containers (jars, crocks, barrels, lids, weights) and clean tools (forks, spoons, chopsticks) for mixing and tasting fermenting vegetables to avoid introducing harmful bacteria. When removing vegetables from a fermenting container, a clean spoon or fork must be used, not fingers.
Salt: As a key ingredient in fermentation, the salt must contain no additives. Salt prevents the growth of unwanted bacteria, retaining vegetable crunchiness and crispness, adding flavor and preserving nutrients. Ukrainian cooks use pure edible rock salt from the Soledar Salt Mine or sea salt from Crimea, both now under Russian control. Pickling or sea salt is recommended in North America since they contain no impurities such as iodine or anti-caking additive in table salt and kosher.
The amount of salt used is a matter of taste and is determined by the sugar content of the vegetables and the desired storage time. Each of the five recipes included in this post provides the appropriate salt-water proportions needed for successful fermentation of the vegetables by weight.
Water: Clean water is essential to home fermenting. Since chlorinated tap water may interfere with fermenting, Ukrainian cooks use filtered, not distilled water, or boiled well or tap water, leaving the pot of water uncovered for 24 hours for chlorine to evaporate.
Weights: Keeping vegetables submerged below the brine is essential to achieve the desired taste of the fermented vegetables and prevent mold formation. Ukrainian cooks place heavy, food-safe objects to weigh down the vegetables, including cleaned stones, plates, and smaller jars filled with water. Since I was fermenting small batches in jars with narrow openings, I made weights out of plastic bags filled with marbles and purchased glass weights.
Weights to keep vegetables submerged in brine
Fermentation containers: Ukrainian cooks successfully ferment in wooden barrels, ceramic crocks, glass jars and stainless-steel pots. Other metal and plastic containers should be avoided because of possible reactions during the fermentation process.
Temperature: During fermentation, containers should optimally be kept at 45-72°F (18-22°C). Lower temperatures slow down fermentation; higher temperatures speed it up, producing a bitter taste. When fermentation is completed, containers should be stored in a cold environment.
Following these guidelines, I replicated Ukrainian salting and fermenting recipes for cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes and cauliflower, adapting them to small batches.
Dry salting, the oldest fermentation method, is used when vegetables with a high water content are thinly cut or are puréed into a paste or sauce. This method adds salt directly to shredded or cut vegetables or paste. The mixture extracts sufficient natural juice to cover the vegetables in the fermentation container.
In the brining method, salt and water brine is added to whole or large chunk vegetables without high water content. This technique thoroughly envelopes vegetables, lessening the risk of fermentation failure, and works best for cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, beets, garlic, onions, green beans, eggplant, radishes, peppers, mushrooms and horseradish. Firm fruit such as apples, pears, lemons, watermelon and cherries can also be brined.
Dry Salt Fermentation of Cabbage
My journey started with dry salting cabbage into a classic sauerkraut that relies on exuded cabbage juice rather than water-based brine for fermentation. In this universal process, the cabbage ferments slowly and gently over 10 -14 days, producing a pleasantly sour, soft cabbage, much tastier than commercial sauerkraut, similar in texture to kimchi. Ukrainians add this sauerkraut to soups, stews, various braises, and sandwiches, as a side dish to meat and as fillings for varenyky (dumplings) and pyrizhky (buns). It makes a great winter salad with thinly sliced onions and a few spoons of sunflower oil.
Shredding cabbage
Dry salt sauerkraut
6 pounds (2.72 k) shredded cabbage (about 2 heads)
4 tablespoons (56 g) sea salt
Wash cabbage, trim and discard discolored leaves. Peel off two large leaves and reserve.
Cut cabbage in half and then in quarters with a sharp knife, and with knife or mandoline, finely shred cabbage, discarding core.
Weigh cabbage to confirm the amount of salt needed for fermentation. (One tablespoon salt (14 g) is needed for 1½ pounds (879 g) of cabbage. One 2-quart (2 ltr) jar is needed for every 3 pounds (1359 g) of cabbage.)
Sterilize jar(s) by running through the hottest dishwasher cycle or boiling in water for 10 minutes. Air dry on clean kitchen towels.
Place shredded cabbage in a large bowl and add salt. Massage, press and turn cabbage until salt is evenly distributed. Set aside for 15 minutes for salt to begin extracting some liquid immediately.
Transfer and firmly pack the cabbage into prepared jars, pushing out any air pockets that may hamper proper fermentation. Top off jar(s) with any brine that accumulated in the bowl and cover the shredded cabbage with reserved cabbage leaves.
To keep shredded cabbage submerged, place a piece of plastic wrap on the cabbage and fit a weight into the jar(s), which will submerge the cabbage in the brine. Place jar(s) on a rimmed tray, covered with a kitchen towel, to catch spillover and to ferment at room temperature (68-74°F or 19-23°C).
Dry salting cabbage with weight
Fermentation produces bubbles, foam, and occasionally a harmless white film called Kahm yeast on top of vegetables which should be skimmed off and discarded.
Taste cabbage every few days for sourness, using clean chopsticks or a fork, not fingers, whenever removing a sample and replacing plastic wrap and weight each time. The cabbage will settle and compact as it ferments. Top off jar(s) with brine if cabbage is not submerged. (To make additional brine, boil 2 cups water with 1 tablespoon salt and cool before using.)
After ten days, the cabbage will be lightly soured. When desired sourness is reached, pack sauerkraut in smaller, clean jar(s), top with additional brine, seal with sterilized lids, label with date and store in refrigerator or cool basement. If sealed, sauerkraut will keep indefinitely but should be refrigerated once opened. Makes 3 quarts.
Dry Salted Sauerkraut ready to eat
Brining Cabbage
As the classic sauerkraut was bubbling in jars on the kitchen counter, I decided to see if brining, the other method of fermenting cabbage, would produce a different result. As it turned out, it did. Brining produces crisper and crunchier cabbage. Without massaging the cabbage as required by the dry salt method, the cell structure of the vegetable is retained, not broken, merely surrounded by salty water. Thus, the cabbage and carrots in this recipe ferment in their naturally crisp state. Furthermore, the brined cabbage is definitely not sauerkraut. It is less sour and fresher tasting, and with some chopped garlic, a thinly sliced onion and a drizzle of olive oil, it makes a tangy side dish to roast pork loin.
Ingredients for Brined Cabbage with Carrots
Brined Sauerkraut with Carrots
3 pounds (1359 g) shredded cabbage
12 ounces (177 g) carrots
1.58 quarts (1½ ltr) water
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons salt
2 bay leaves
2-3 dill fronds
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
Wash cabbage, trim and discard discolored leaves. Cut cabbage in half and then in quarters with a sharp knife, and with knife or mandoline, finely shred cabbage, discarding core.
Grate carrots.
Sterilize 2 one-quart (1 ltr) jar(s) and lid(s) by running through a dishwasher or in boiling water for 10 minutes. Air dry on a clean kitchen towel.
Place dill fronds in the bottom of the prepared jar(s). Firmly press, but do not massage, cabbage and carrots in random layers or mixed to within 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the top of the jar(s).
In a large pot, combine water, sugar and salt and heat to boiling, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve. Add bay leaves and peppercorns to hot brine. Cool brine to room temperature.
Then, pour sufficient brine, including bay leaves and peppercorns into the jar(s), completely covering the vegetables. Screw on lids and invert jars several times to eliminate air pockets. Remove lids. Top each jar with brine so vegetables are covered, reserving excess brine for later use. Place plastic wrap loosely on jar top(s) and add a weight. Loosely cover with sterilized lids(s) so that fermentation gases can escape and set on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any spillover.
Cabbage will begin fermenting in a few hours at room temperature and will be lightly sour within three days. Several times a day during the first four days of fermentation, remove the lids, skim and discard foam, if any, and release fermenting gas by pushing a wooden chopstick through the cabbage/carrot layers in several places, adding reserved brine as needed to keep the cabbage submerged. Loosely replace plastic wrap, weight and lid each time.
Continue fermentation for several more days. Taste and, when sufficiently sour, cover tightly with sterilized lid(s), label with date and store in refrigerator or another cold place until ready to use. If sealed, sauerkraut will keep indefinitely but should be refrigerated once opened. Makes 2 quarts.
Brining Cabbage and Carrots
Brined Cabbage-Carrots ready to eat
Brining other vegetables
Now that I had two cabbage recipes in the fermentation corner of my kitchen, I decided to brine other vegetables that Ukrainians loved.
Sour Dill Pickles Ingredients
Sour Dill Pickles (Malosol Cucumbers)
The naturally fermented cucumbers, also called malosol (lightly salted), are a classic of Ukrainian cuisine. They are similar in taste and texture to a kosher dill pickle– spicy, sour and crunchy. Ukrainians eat them as snacks and add them as mouth-watering ingredients to salads, stews and soups, serving them with sandwiches, meat and cheese plates.
18 Kirby (about 2 pounds –906 g) cucumbers, unwaxed and unwashed *
1 head garlic, cloves separated, peeled and trimmed
6 large branches of fresh dill
3 tablespoons (42 g) pickling or sea salt
1½ quarts boiling water
2 whole small chili peppers OR 1 heaping tablespoon of coarsely ground black pepper
1 inch chunk of horseradish root, sliced, OR 1 tablespoon of prepared horseradish
1 gallon Mason jar with a tight lid
Soak (but not scrub) in cold water for 6 hours or overnight. Thoroughly rinse the cucumbers under running water. Dry on a clean kitchen towel.
Sterilize jar(s) by running through the hottest dishwasher cycle or boiling in water for 10 minutes. Air dry on clean kitchen towels.
Place several branches of dill in the jar bottom. Arrange cucumbers vertically in layers fitting snuggly without having to force, inserting garlic cloves, chili peppers, horseradish slices and additional dill between layers.
Prepare brine by adding salt to boiling water, stir to dissolve and set aside to cool. Pour cold brine over cucumbers to the top of the jar. Cover with remaining branches of dill and a horseradish slice.
Cover the jar loosely with a lid and place it on a rimmed baking sheet to catch brine overflow during fermentation. After two days, remove accumulated foam and taste. If sufficiently sour, seal with lid, label with date and place in refrigerator to ferment slowly.
After three to four days, cucumbers will be lightly salted with plenty of crunch, which some people prefer and fully cured in 8-10 days. Use clean chopsticks or a fork, not fingers, whenever removing a pickle. Pickles will continue to ferment and should be eaten within a few months. Makes 18 pickles.
Sour Dill Pickles ready to eat
A cold brine will take weeks to permeate denser vegetables like cauliflower and carrots, often never reaching the vegetable core. To facilitate an even permeation of brine, some recipes suggest softening the vegetables by briefly blanching and chilling them in iced water before adding cold brine. This Ukrainian recipe, however, provides a shortcut: accomplish blanching by pouring hot brine on the jarred vegetables. Regardless of which blanching method is used, each merely expedites brine absorption but does not cook the vegetables, leaving them crunchy. These brined cauliflower florets make a colorful, savory complement to a charcuterie board, cheese assortment or sandwiches.
Ingredients for Brined Cauliflower with Turmeric
Brined Cauliflower with Turmeric
1 head cauliflower (about 2 pounds florets)
1 small carrot
3 cups water
4 tablespoons sea salt
1 small white onion
1 quart (1 ltr) filtered water
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon black peppercorns
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
Sterilize jar(s)2 one-quart (1 ltr) jars by running through the hottest dishwasher cycle or boiling in water for 10 minutes. Air dry on clean kitchen towels.
Separate cauliflower into florets, discarding core and leaves. Peel and slice carrot into thin rounds, ¼ inch (0.5 cm). Cut onion into thick rings and place in bottom jar(s). Top with chilled cauliflower and carrot slices.
Prepare brine by bringing 1 quart (1 ltr) of water to boil. Add 3 tablespoons salt and stir until salt is dissolved. Remove from stove, add bay leaf, peppercorns, and 1 tablespoon turmeric and cool for 5 minutes.
Pour hot brine to cover vegetables, reserving extra brine for later use. Place jar(s) on a rimmed baking sheet, loosely placing plastic wrap over the opening and a weight to submerge vegetables in brine. Cover jar(s) loosely with sterilized lids without screwing the lids on.
Cauliflower with Turmeric brining under weights
Check brine level daily, skim off accumulated foam, if any, and top off each jar with reserved brine, if necessary. Use clean chopsticks or a fork, not fingers, whenever removing a sample, replacing plastic wrap and weight each time.
Taste cauliflower after seven days, when it will be slightly tart. Seal jars with lids if sufficiently sour. If not, continue fermentation for up to 10 days. Top off jar(s) with reserved brine. Tighten lids, label with date and store in refrigerator or other cold basement. Use within six months. Refrigerate after opening. Makes 2 quarts.
Ready to eat
Ukrainians love brined tomatoes. Barrels of them are sold at markets throughout the year. Although tomatoes of all sizes can be brined, juicy, large tomatoes lose their shape, their natural juices dilute the brine, and they become watery from long brining. Nonetheless, large, brined tomatoes are a snack of choice with vodka shots. I prefer slightly fermented cherry tomatoes, which maintain shape and crispness and do not become as watery as large tomatoes. Even after brining for a few days, the juices in the cherry tomatoes acquire a pleasant saltiness. Brined cherry tomatoes are a wonderful addition to a cheese and meat board, but I like to pop them in the mouth as a tart, savory, low-calorie snack.
Ingredients for Brined Cherry Tomatoes
Brined Cherry Tomatoes
1 pound (450 g) organic cherry tomatoes
Several fresh dill fronds or a dill seed heads
2 slices fresh horseradish, about ¼ inch ( 0.6 g) thick 1 inch (2.5 cm) diameter each
2 garlic cloves
1 quart (1 ltr) water
5 teaspoons (32 g) fine sea salt
2 fresh bay leaves|
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
Wash tomatoes and herbs and set aside to dry.
Sterilize 1 -quart (1 ltr) jar by running through a dishwasher cycle or boiling for 10 minutes in hot water. Dry thoroughly on clean kitchen towels.
Prick each tomato with a toothpick through the stem end and place into jar, fitting dill, horseradish and garlic between tomatoes.
Pricking tomatoes
Combine water, salt and bay leaves in a medium saucepan and bring to boil, stirring until the salt is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool to 100°F (40° C). Stir in honey.
Add garlic cloves and peppercorns to the jar. Pour brine to 1 inch (2.5 cm) below the rim of each jar, transferring bay leaves and ensuring that all tomatoes are submerged in brine. Reserve excess brine. Screw on lids and turn jars over several times to distribute spices. Remove lids.
To submerge tomatoes while fermenting, loosely place a sheet of plastic wrap on the jar top and a weight. Do not attach lids. Place the jar on a tray to catch any spillover. Check brine level daily and top off brine if needed.
Within three days, bubbles should appear which indicates that fermentation has begun. With a clean spoon, remove and discard accumulated bubbles and foam and add brine, if necessary. Tomatoes will be mildly brined. Taste. Fermentation will increase each subsequent day. When the desired tartness is reached, screw on the lids and turn jar(s) over several times, label with date and refrigerate. Tomatoes should be eaten within a few months. Makes 1 quart.
Brined Cherry Tomatoes read to eat
When I started this salting and fermenting project, I wondered whether it was possible to replicate classic Ukrainian salting and fermentation recipes, usually made in large barrels or crocks, in small batches. To my surprise, scaling down these recipes for urban home cooks is not difficult, requiring little equipment (vegetables, salt, water and some jars), a little time, and producing tasty and nutritious results that can be eaten over a few months. These recipes are easy and quick to assemble, but waiting days for fermentation to complete was hard.
I am glad I started with small recipes with short fermentations. I could taste the fruits of my labor within a few weeks. These five recipes produce tangy, colorful, fermented vegetables with a pleasant, sour flavor, zingy but not overpoweringly acidic, and pickle-like aroma.
Observing this ancient food preservation process unfolding in jars on my kitchen counter naturally without synthetic chemical preservatives was fun. It brought back memories of high school chemistry but with edible and flavorful results. Understanding the basics of fermentation, I am now ready to experiment with fermenting other vegetables, salads and sauces and to play with different flavorings. My fermentation journey will continue.
Photo Credits:
Solinnya in small market: ID92809624 © Yuljasik |Dreamstime.com
Solinnya in Odesa’s Privoz Market: ID154393457 © Volodymyr Zakharov |Dreamstime.com
All other photos: Slava Johnson
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