Put It Where the Sun Shines

Hungarian Sun Pickles on the third day

When the sun shines in Southern California, I make Hungarian sun pickles... Vizes Ubotka.

I remember going to my grandmother Berger's  house and heading directly to the kitchen and for the cooler and her jar of pickles. She would take a large fork and dip into the jar and put one large pickle on a plate for me. I would sit at the kitchen table which was covered with oilcloth and eat my pickle and drink the juice.

There is no vinegar or brine in this recipe.
Although I have several Hungarian cookbooks, I use the oral direction my Grandmother Berger used.


The recipe is shared here.
Vizes Ubotka

A large glass jar with lid
30  five-inch pickling cucumbers
6 cloves of garlic
6 T salt
1 t Flour
1 slice of rye bread
1 large batch of dill

Cut off the end of the cucumbers and score them in an X top and bottom.
Place 1/2 of dill and several crushed garlic in the bottom of the jar.
Place in as many cucumbers as you can standing on end and pack them tightly.
Place the other half of the dill and several crushed garlic into the jar on top of the cucumbers.

Boil about 4 quarts of salted water. 
Put the jar with cucumbers in a pot of hot water to prevent the jar from cracking when you add the next step of boiling water.
Pour salted boiling water over the cucumbers and fill to the top.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour over top and cover the mouth of the jar with 1 slice of rye bread.
Use cheese cloth or the jar lid to close. (keep cheese cloth moist)
Place in sun (or a warm place) for 4-5 days (bring in at night).

After the fifth day, remove all,  strain the liquid and replace cucumbers and liquid to jar. The juice chilled is an excellent summer drink.
I regrigerate.

Food is a major part of the Hungarian culture. Several recipes will be placed on my blog. Hope you enjoy them.