Tomatoes Salted with Vegetables
Think of this as a fermentation barrel shrunk to a single crock: green tomatoes, cabbage, sweet peppers, and carrots all sour together under one weight. Cooks valued the shared brine because each vegetable donates its juice and aroma while absorbing its neighbors’ — the tomatoes turn spicy, the cabbage stays crisp, the peppers pick up a pleasant tang.
This is a cold lacto-ferment, not a vinegar pickle: nothing is cooked or scalded, and wild bacteria do the work in a salt brine (600 g salt to 10 liters of water, close to a 6% solution). Pricking the peppers near the base with a fork lets brine reach the hollow inside so they don’t float empty.
- Soak the cucumbers a few hours in cold water first so they plump up and don’t ferment wrinkled.
- Keep the crock warm for the first few days to start fermentation; once you smell that sour tang and see foam, move it to the cold or the vegetables over-sour.
- Ready in about 20 days — store near 0 °C (32 °F), essentially just above freezing.
Part of Ukrainian cuisine — 288 more recipes in the section.
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Ingredients
Instructions
Thoroughly wash small-fruited green tomatoes. Wash medium meaty sweet peppers and prick them with a fork in several places near the base.
Wash and thoroughly peel the carrots (the Nantes variety is best). Trim the green outer leaves from the cabbage head and cut it into 4-8 pieces.
Wash cucumbers 7-10 cm long thoroughly and soak them for 3-4 hours to restore their firmness.
Layer the prepared vegetables in a wide-mouthed vessel. Put the greens on the bottom and on top.
Set a plate and a weight on top and pour in cold brine.
Keep at room temperature for the first 2-4 days, and once fermentation begins, move to a cold place.
The vegetables are ready to eat in about 20 days. Store at 0-10°C.
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