Preparation:
These are the approximate ingredients you would need to fill up a 10 liter barrel. Peel garlic and cut each clove in half. Peel carrots. Wash vegetables. Cut cabbage, carrots and celery into quarters. Break apart cauliflower. Leave cucumbers or tomatoes whole. With cabbage, discard outer leaves and cut off the hard part at the base. With the cauliflower, leave a little it of the leaves on for taste but discard the hard part of the stem.
Mix vegetables in layers so all of one kind is not next to the other. Put in the vegetables, garlic, then vegetables again, and so on. Add 1 heaping tablespoon of salt for each liter of hot water that you will add to the barrel. After the barrel is full with the vegetables and water, add 5 more tablespoons of salt on top, along with 2 tablespoons of mustard seeds, 2 tablespoons peppercorns and 4 bay leaves. You can use a cheesecloth bag to put the mustard seeds and peppercorns in or just throw them in loosely. Use clean wood sticks or empty glass bottles on top to hold down all vegetables under the water, if necessary. It's important for them to be covered at all times.
Mix the barrel (if it's large, it can be rolled on the floor!) when done and shake it again each day for the next few days. It's important to make sure it's being mixed well. It should be ready in about 10 days to eat. Kirby cucumbers may take a few days longer. Taste the liquid after the first couple of days, as you may need to add an additional tablespoon of salt or two. It's important not to add too much salt in the beginning but to keep the balance constant and to add a little more as the salt is absorbed. In our case, we added 3 tablespoons of salt on the sixth day, but this could change according to what you put in and the size of your ba |
