Pickles

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 10 cucumber(s) (farmer’s cucumbers)
• 1 piece(s) horseradish, freshly peeled or from the jar
• 5 sprigs of dill, use with stems
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp, leveled salt, per 1 liter of water

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 minute; Rest period approx. 3 days; Total time approx. 3 days 1 minute

Recipe from the GDR

I got this recipe 20 years ago in the GDR. You use as much as you have or as much as you think you’ll need. If you can’t get hold of farmer’s cucumbers, use salad cucumbers, but chop them up and rinse the skins in hot water. You do have to measure out how much water you need for the clay pot and add salt accordingly. Boil the water with the salt and let it cool. Soak the cucumbers in water for 12 hours to draw out the bitter substances. Then brush them well and layer them in a clay pot with the other ingredients and pour the cooled salted water over them. Add a weight so the cucumbers stay submerged. Let them rest for at least 3-4 days; the first few start to taste good. The cucumbers will gradually become translucent, and only then will they taste really good. The water will turn milky and a whitish coating will form on top, which is not a bad thing. Rinse and enjoy.