Since ancient times in Russia, cucumbers have been salted in oak tubs. They were loved by both royalty and commoners. Here is one of the recipes for pickling cucumbers, taken from the book "Practical Foundations of Culinary Art" by Alexandrovo-Ignatieva Pelageya, published in 1909.
Instructions
Step 1
Salting cucumbers, like all other preparations, is best from July 20 to August 6.
Step 2
Large table cucumbers are selected for salting, washed thoroughly. In order to drain the water from them, put it on a sieve. To make the appearance of pickled cucumbers beautiful and full, put them in a tub in a standing position, but not in a lying position. Each layer should be shifted with a mixture of different herbs, such as tarragon, dill, corvel, cherry leaves, chembor, black currant leaves, if found, it would be nice to have oak leaves, horseradish roots, chopped finely, as well as its green leaves, for lovers garlic can also be added.
Step 3
Having laid the cucumbers in a tub as described above, you need to fill them with brine. The pickle should cover the cucumbers completely. The water for the brine should be best well or spring water, then the cucumbers will be strong. But cucumbers, salted in brine from river water, will no longer have a fortress. The brine itself is prepared in this way: if the cucumbers are large, then 500 grams of salt is taken for each bucket of water. If the cucumbers are small, then 400 grams of salt should be taken for each bucket of water. The salt is taken the most ordinary, fine. It is first dissolved in water, and then filtered through a napkin or clean towel onto cucumbers.
Step 4
When the cucumbers are filled with brine, oak planks are folded on them and light oppression. The oppression should not crush the cucumbers, it is intended only so that the cucumbers do not float out of the brine, but are completely immersed in it. Then the pickled cucumbers are covered with a clean towel and stored in a dry, cold cellar.
