Culinary Explorer
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Kvashenyi Buryak (квашений буряк, fermented whole beets)
Created by Chef Lesia
The beets stain the brine first like spilled ink, then slowly turn it sour, ruby-deep, and useful enough to carry a whole winter pot of borshch.
The first thing the beets do is bleed. Not politely. They turn the water dark as pomegranate skins, stain the garlic pink, creep up the jar in a crimson tide, and then the quiet work begins. A week later the brine clouds, the lid gives a little sigh, and the sharp-sweet smell tells you this is no boiled beet salad. This is kvashenyi buryak, whole beets made alive in salt water.
Ingredients
small raw beets
Quantity
1 kg
scrubbed well, tails left on
cool non-chlorinated water
Quantity
1.2 litres, or enough to cover
fine sea salt
Quantity
42g, 3.5 percent of the water weight
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small raw beetsscrubbed well, tails left on | 1 kg |
| cool non-chlorinated water | 1.2 litres, or enough to cover |
| fine sea salt | 42g, 3.5 percent of the water weight |
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