Cauliflower, a vegetable with numerous health benefits, is also a popular choice among Romanians when pickled vegetables. However, few know the secret to keeping a sauerkraut crisp well into summer.
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For a cauliflower to stay really crispy, it's not enough just to jar it.
The first step to a pickling that retains its firm texture is choosing the right vegetables: the cauliflower must be fresh, without blemishes, well opened in florets, and not cut too finely — if you break it into small sticks, the risk is that it will become soft after sterilization.
At the same time, add other firm vegetables (pepper, carrot) and spices both for flavor and to stabilize a beneficial environment in the jar.
According to the recipe, for each liter of water, use approximately 30 g of salt, 50 g of sugar and a teaspoon of paprika, plus 50 ml of 9% vinegar, according to the Grandma's Tips website.
When the water starts to boil, add the vinegar and pour the hot marinade over the vegetables. The vegetables must be placed tightly in the jar, without large air spaces, because the “gaps” favor their softening.
Also, the jars must then be sterilized — about 8-10 minutes are recommended for 0.5 L, up to 15 minutes for 1 L — but be careful: don't overboil, because otherwise the cauliflower loses its firmness.
What is often passed down from generation to generation is the addition of an “extra element” to maintain crispness — for example, horseradish root or thyme leaves between the vegetables, which create a more stable environment in the jar.
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