Breathe, baby.
There is something meditative about making ferments. Maybe it’s because you don’t consume anything after you create it; there is no craving that will be immediately satisfied. The consumption is completely removed from the creation. You put it away to sit and think about itself for days.
It’s an exercise, though not even in restraint (see: fresh mulberry granita goo or chilled cookie dough). No, a ferment before it’s gotten its bubble on differs so wholly from the end product, it’s–if you’ll pardon the grandiose notion–more like an act of self-care.
You prepare it, and then it will be there for you for months upon months. It will satisfy cravings, sure, but not right now. You make it for your future self, knowingly. A different feeling when you’re in the kitchen, and that’s nice… real nice.
Zucchini Pickles with Coriander and Lemon
Ingredients
- 6-7 small zucchini sliced in half lengthwise
- 1 heaping tablespoon coriander seeds
- 12 whole peppercorns
- zest from 1/2 lemon in large strips and without bitter white pith
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 2 cups filtered water plus more if necessary
Instructions
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In a small bag or in a clean dish towel, combine the coriander and peppercorns. Hit a few times with a rolling pin to gently crack the majority.
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Drop and stuff all spices into the mason jar, including the pieces of lemon zest. Place your clean, sterilized quart-sized mason jar on its side and stack in the zucchini slices until just tightly packed (this helps prevent the zucchinis from floating in the jar once you add the brine).
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In a separate jar, mix water and sea salt until the salt has dissolved.
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Pour the brine over the zucchinis until they are covered, adding more filtered water to the brine if necessary.
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Remember to keep about an inch of airspace at the top of the jar (to prevent fermented explosions!)
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Screw lid on top, place in a cool cupboard for three days to get funky, then store in the fridge.
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Keeps for a really long time (thanks, bacteria!)
Salixisme
I like the sound of this! I will try making these this week I think. I posted about fermented watermelon rind pickles yesterday…
Lucia
Watermelon rind ferment! I need to do this! I meant to last year but obviously it slipped my mind. Let me know if you try this recipe, thanks for stopping by!!
Rachel
Oh! I can’t wait to try this. Going to have a lot of zucchinis from the gardern very soon!
Lucia
Woo woo! Can’t wait to hear how they turn out!!
JenP.
Three years late to the party! I wanted to see if anyone had made ‘lemony zucchini pickles’ before me, and the search browser found this page.
Mine were made with long zucchini noodle strips cut from ‘Rampicante’ climbing zucchini, thin strips of preserved lemon, and thinly sliced sweet white onion. The coriander and the pepper are the same but in somewhat different proportions. I used a 3.5% brine seeded with a little bit of prior pickle juice to get it going faster. It was a four day ferment, start to finish.
They came out as lovely sour lemony noodles and I have been putting them in homemade pho instead of rice noodles.
Lucia
LOVE this!