The most famous pickles are made from cucumbers – the short ones, often referred to as gherkins or ridge cucumbers. The Hungarians make two types of pickled cucumbers– one is made when the cucumbers first come into season. They are fermented with yeast and the cucumbers sour within a few days and can be eaten straight away (bread is used as the source of yeast). Also, there is the sweet and sour variety that is made when the cucumbers are at their most plentiful and in which the cucumbers are pickled in vinegar and are kept for use during the winter.
Hungarian Summer Pickled Cucumbers
(Kovaszos Uborka)
Ingredients
5 litre wide mouthed glass jar
7-12 cm cucumbers - enough to fill jar
3 litres water
2 tablespoons salt
4 cloves garlic
4 sprigs fresh dill
Thick slice bread
Method
Make sure the jar is perfectly clean and sterilised.
Wash the cucumbers and trim off each end.
Slit each cucumber vertically without cutting through the end then make a slit the opposite way with out cutting through the end.
Boil the water with the salt.
Place 2 cloves of garlic and 2 sprigs of dill in the bottom of the jar.
Arrange the prepared cucumbers in the jar on top of the garlic and dill.
Place the remaining 2 cloves of garlic and 2 sprigs of dill on top of the cucumbers and pour over the hot liquid making sure the cucumbers are covered.
Place the bread on top of the liquid.
Put a lid on the jar and place in the sun for 2-3 days. When the cucumbers begin to turn yellow they are ready.
Remove the bread and put into the refrigerator for at least a day before using.
Sweet & Sour Pickled Cucumbers
(Csemege Uborka)
Ingredients
1 kilo 7 – 12 cm cucumbers
50 grams salt
1 litre white vinegar
250 grams sugar
4 tablespoons pickling spice
4 bay leaves
8 pickling onions - peeled
4 sprigs dill
Method
Wash and brush the cucumbers. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt and leave for 24 hours.
Drain, wash and dry them then pack into 4 sterile 240 gram jars, together with two
pickling onions in each jar.
Place vinegar and sugar in a pan, stir to melt sugar and bring to boil.
Pour hot liquor over the cucumbers in the jars, making sure they are well covered. Add a bay leaf & sprig of dill to each jar and sprinkle over 1 teaspoon of pickling spice to each jar. Cover and leave for at least 2 months before using.
|
