“Még nyílnak a völgyben a kerti virágok…”
Petőfi Sándor, Szeptember Végén
On such lovely September day I wasn’t thinking of fall looming in the background. Not even a backache deterred me from pickling and I managed to put away twelve smallish jars of csalamádé. And then two days later… gloomy skies and wind. Sigh. Not that the summer was great with the wildfires and the smoke and the struggling garden. Two prolific fruit trees are dead; one dying and neither the walnut nor the cherry tree producing fruit this year... I really shouldn’t mourn the end of summer. Yes folks you don’t have to “believe in climate change” if reality didn’t hit you over the head by now, I don’t know what rock you crawled under.
The beauty of this recipe it doesn’t require chemical preservatives. Old Hungarian recipes relied on the use of szalicil and lately sodium benzoate. I never found szalicil in Canada, by now outlawed in Hungary as well, and even though sodium benzonate is available on mail order, I think it is preferable to use the North American canning method to process this iconic Hungarian recipe. Vegetable pickles of course come in many forms. This one is a winter pickle which should last on the shelf from one pickling season to the next. The flavor is distinctly European, one can tell by the flavorings used; caraway and mustard seeds, peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic, fresh dill, and if you can get it grape leaves. I didn’t use grape leaves, even though I have grape leaves aplenty in the backyard, leaves, but for the first time no grapes... Anyway I left the grape leaves out, because this year’s csalamádé was stuffed into smaller, approximately 2 cup, bottles. Grape leaves make the pickles crunchier, but they don’t contribute to flavour.
This recipe is universal. It will work with any type of vegetable, though red cabbage and beets will color everything red. Traditionally 80% of csalamádé is made from white cabbage, but you can add as many or as few other vegetables as you like.
The basic components of pickling are water, vinegar, salt, sugar and spices.
Don’t use chlorinated water! Use only distilled or sodium free bottled water.
Don’t use iodized salt. Use only coarse, kosher or pickling salt.
Regarding sugar: Hungarian recipes traditionally call for white granulated sugar. Brown sugar would change both the appearance and flavor of the pickles.
As for the vinegar, Hungarian recipes favor 10% white vinegar for pickling. North American recipes call for 5% white vinegar. 10% and up vinegar is corrosive and used here for cleaning, so even if you could get 10% vinegar it may not be suitable for human consumption. Both Allen’s and Heinz make white pickling vinegar at 7%. These may not be available year around, but sure to make an appearance at pickling time and one bottle can last for years.
Hungarian Vegetable Pickles
For the Brine:
12 1/2 cups of distilled or sodium free bottled water
3 1/2 cups of 7% pickling vinegar
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup coarse salt
1 heaping Tbsp caraway seeds
1 heaping Tbsp mustard seeds
1 heaping Tbsp black pepper seeds
6 bay leaves cut in half
For the Vegetables:
1 head of white cabbage, thinly sliced
3 bell peppers, red and yellow, thinly sliced
1 red banana pepper on the hot side, thinly sliced
1 English cucumber [you can also use a couple of field cucumbers, but peel them if they are waxed], thinly sliced
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 green tomatoes, thinly sliced
12 cloves of garlic
1 pkg fresh dill
12 [approximately 2 cups or 500 mil] wide mouth bottles and their caps
• Make the brine first.
• Put all brine ingredients in a large pot and bring it to a rolling boil.
• Remove from heat and pour the brine through a fine sieve, reserving the spices for use later.
• Let the brine cool down completely. This will take a couple of hours.
• In the meantime wash and drain the 12 bottles and their caps.
• Set the caps aside and place the bottles in the oven and turn the heat to150F.
• After the pilot light is off set the timer for 20 minutes.
• Remove the bottles one by one and place them on the counter.
• Next prepare the vegetables.
• Wash all the vegetables under cold running water and place them on a tray.
• First remove the outer leaves of the cabbage and discard.
• Cut the cabbage into quarters and discard the cores.
• Slice the cabbage very thinly, as if you were preparing coleslaw.
• Divide the sliced cabbage between two of the largest bowls or containers you have. This will make it easier to make the csalamádé uniform.
• Quarter the peppers. Cut off the tops, remove the seeds and membranes and discard.
• Julianne the pepper slices and divide between the two bowls.
• Thinly slice the English cucumber. If using field cucumbers and they are waxed, peel them first. Divide the cucumber slices between the two bowls.
• Peel the carrots, cut off the ends and discard. Thinly slice the carrots across and divide them in the two bowls.
• Thinly slice the onion and the green tomatoes and divide them in the two bowls.
• Toss contents of the two bowls.
• Clean the garlic cloves and place one into each prepared bottle.
• Divide the dill between the bottles.
• Next divide the reserved spice mixture from the brine between the bottles.
• Stuff the bottles with the prepared vegetables leaving a quarter inch headspace.
• Pour the reserved by now room temperature brine over the vegetables, again leaving a headspace.
• Wipe the rims with dampened paper towel.
• Place 12 lids in a small pot with water and bring it to almost simmer to soften the seals.
• Pour off the water and place the lids over the bottles.
• Put on the screw caps on and transfer the bottles to the oven.
• Turn the heat to 150F and process for 1 hour.
• Remove the bottles and set them out on the counter.
• The popping sounds will signal the bottles are sealed.
• Check for the seal, the lid should not move up or down at all, and store.
