Turshiya

Ingredients

Vegetables

• 500 ggreen peppers, left whole and pricked
• 400 gcarrots, cut in thick batons
• 400 gcauliflower, in florets
• 300 gsmall pickling cucumbers
• 300 ggreen tomatoes
• 2celery stalks with leaves

Brine

• 2.5 litreswater
• 125 gcoarse non-iodised salt — 5% of the water’s weight

Aromatics

• 1 headgarlic, cloves peeled
• 2 tbspblack peppercorns
• 4bay leaves
• 1 tbspcoriander seed
• 1 bunchfresh dill
• 1hot chilli, whole

Directions

1. Wash the vegetables and leave them in large pieces. Prick the whole peppers two or three times so the brine can get inside them.
2. Dissolve the salt completely in the water. Weigh it — 5% is what protects the jar while the lactic bacteria take hold, and it is the one measurement that has to be right.
3. Pack everything into a clean 3-litre jar with the garlic, peppercorns, bay, coriander, dill and chilli distributed through, pressing down to drive out air pockets.
4. Pour over the brine so everything sits at least 2 cm below the surface, then weight it down. Anything that floats will grow mould, and that is the only real way this fails.
5. Cover loosely so gas escapes and leave at cool room temperature, about 18°C (64°F), for three to four weeks. Expect cloudiness and bubbling in the first week — that is what it should do.
6. Taste at three weeks. When it is properly sour and still crisp, move it somewhere cold for the winter.
7. Serve as a side to roast meat and beans, with rakia, and drink the brine cold the morning after.

Technique

• Skim any white film off as it appears. A thin white bloom is harmless kahm yeast; coloured fuzzy mould means something rose above the brine.
• Non-iodised salt, always. Iodine holds back the very bacteria you are relying on.
• The tsarska version — the royal one — is the same brine with cauliflower and carrot in greater proportion, and it is worth the extra chopping.

Substitutions

• Green beans, small onions or unripe watermelon, all of which are pickled this way in Bulgaria.
• Horseradish root or a few oak or blackcurrant leaves, whose tannins keep everything firmer for longer.

Variations

• A vinegar turshiya is much faster and keeps indefinitely, but it is sharp rather than sour and lacks the depth.
• The Bosnian turšija and Macedonian turšija are the same preserve under local names.

History

Autumn pickling stocks Bulgarian cellars; tsarska turshiya, the royal pickle, adds cauliflower and carrots to the usual peppers and cabbage.

Frequently asked questions

What is Turshiya?

Turshiya is a fermented & pickled from Bulgaria: mixed vegetables soured in brine, eaten with rakia in winter. Autumn pickling stocks Bulgarian cellars; tsarska turshiya, the royal pickle, adds cauliflower and carrots to the usual peppers and cabbage.

How long does Turshiya take to make?

Turshiya takes 40 min plus 3 to 4 weeks fermenting of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes fills a 3-litre jar. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Turshiya?

Yes, within limits. Green beans, small onions or unripe watermelon, all of which are pickled this way in Bulgaria. Horseradish root or a few oak or blackcurrant leaves, whose tannins keep everything firmer for longer.

What is the most important thing to get right in Turshiya?

Wash the vegetables and leave them in large pieces. Prick the whole peppers two or three times so the brine can get inside them.