Recipe: DIY salt pickled cucumbers
Since having met my husband who is originally from Moldova in Eastern Europe I have tried a lot of different foods and flavours which he was brought up enjoying, one of those things is salt pickled cucumbers. My husband is very particular with his pickles and prefers salty-water brine fermentation rather than the more common use of vinegar.
Having tried a range of different pre-prepared pickles from the supermarkets my husband has now started to make his own salt pickled cucumbers using elements of his mother’s tried and tested recipe as well as adding his own flare in the form of the flavour enhancements.
- Jar – sterilise in a dish washer or hot oven
- Cucumber – chopped into pieces or slices
- Filtered Water
- Rock salt
- Garlic – helps prevent build up of mould during the fermentation process
- Bay leaf – this is important to maintain crunch stopping the cucumber from going soggy
- Coriander seeds
Method:
- Once you have all your ingredients ready simply place the cucumber, rock salt, garlic, bay leaf and coriander seeds into your jar
- Add the water to the jar, making sure to cover all of the cucumber (the fermentation process must be anaerobic – without air)
- Close the jar and give it a good shake before storing in a cool dark place
- Every 3 or so days open the jar to expel any build up of carbon dioxide – you can also take this opportunity to taste your pickled cucumbers – it usually takes around 2 weeks for them to be ready but it’s really down to individual tastes
- Once they are to your taste open and enjoy! My husband recommends eating them with meats, potatoes and for spicing up otherwise bland dishes
*Canon kindly lent me a fantastic DSLR – Canon EOS 70D – with which I took the photos in this post*
