Pelustka
Pelustka is one of the most beautiful Ukrainian ferments. Pelustka means petal, and you
will see why this pickle carries this name when you make it.
Recipe by @oliahercules
Ingredients and Method
Ingredients
- 1 Litre Water
- 25g Sea salt
- 1 Small white cabbage (regular/pointed cabbage)
- 2-3 Small beetroots (peeled/unpeeled but well washed)
- 1 Splash of another ferment
- Optional Flavourings:
- 1 Bay leaf
- A few cloves of garlic
- Ginger
- Horseradish root
- blackcurrant leaves
- Coriander seeds
- Caraway seeds
- Allspice berries
- Dill umbrellas/stalks
- Parsley umbrellas/stalks
Method
- Clean the jar gently. You don’t have to sterilise it unless the jar has been sitting in a dusty cellar for years. Make sure that you do not use harsh chemicals, like bleach in your kitchen. Fermentation is life, and you should not kill the microbiome of your kitchen (which bleach does).
- Put the aromatics (apart from dry spices) at the bottom of your jar. Cut the dry end of the cabbage stalk, then cut the cabbage into 8ths, and then again across if you feel it won’t fit into the jar. Cut the beetroot into thin wedges. The thinner the vegetables,the quicker they will ferment.
- Put the beetroot and cabbage into the jar in layers. Then heat up the brine, adding the dry spices to it, if using. When it’s steaming, pour it over the vegetables in the jar and close the lid.
- When the brine cools down to warm, add the splash of the brine from another pickle. This will help inoculate it with friendly bacteria.
- Leave it in your kitchen, covered with a lid for about a week. You may need to open the lid every two days to release the build-up of CO2.
- Pinch a little bit off and taste the cabbage, if it tastes sour, like a proper pickle, put the jar in the fridge, where it will keep for months.
- The pickle is good served with Ukrainian varenyky or any rich dish, like roast pork or roasted pumpkin.
