Who needs cucumbers, pickles, barrel-s?..
Read it? Represented? Did you feel your mouth fill with saliva? Meanwhile, the taste of real barrel cucumbers, pickled according to all the rules, is forgotten by many. When talking about pickled cucumbers, people most often remember the rows of half-liter jars on store shelves with enticing labels like "Cucumbers from Uncle Vanya", "Traditional Russian Ambassador" and the like. On many labels, the foreign mysterious word "gherkins" is added in small print. And also, somewhere on the side, in very small letters printed: "Made in China".
So where are they, real Russian pickles?
Real Russian cucumbers are s alted only in barrels. In recent years, Istobene cucumbers have become especially famous. This almost brand appeared in a small ancient village, which for almost seven centuries has been conveniently located on the banks of the river under the true Russian name Vyatka. Istobensk. That's why cucumbers are Istobensky. Centenary gardening traditions, fairly good climate, love for the work of local residents and access to natural resourcesquality pure water - these are the main secrets of the cultivation of cucumber crops with excellent taste.
Istoben style s alting
Istobensky cucumbers were traded at most Ural fairs. And how fly they left! It would seem, what's the matter? They seemed to be s alted without any tricks, in the usual way: medium-sized fruits were selected (overgrowths will spoil the taste), the bottom of the barrel was shifted with dill leaves, currants and horseradish with garlic. In order for the finished cucumber to crunch loudly and relish, they always threw a handful of oak leaves. Sometimes they added a little bit of juniper (veres, in Vyatka).
Cucumbers were pickled, stacked in rows in barrels and shifted again and again with spicy herbs. And then filled to the brim with cold s alt water. How much s alt was required? Yes, how much will it take so that the desired taste of the brine manifests itself. Then everything was placed under oppression, for which medium-sized stones, uprooted from arable land, were best suited. After a couple of days, the oppression was removed and the brine was added again to the brim.
The barrels were steamed with veres before s alting. The barrels, by the way, were also special - exclusively from spruce planks, which the industrious cooper tightly fitted to each other. They said that if he accidentally makes a mistake and confuses a Christmas tree with a pine tree, then every vegetable in the barrel will turn sour, no matter how clever they are. And the trees for the boards were always selected young, and only those boards on which there were no knots were used. Maybe just inbarrels and the secret of the Istoben cucumbers.
Istoben Cucumber Festival
Istobentsy remembered the glory of their cucumbers in the late nineties of the last century. They remembered - and decided to declare in their honor the annual summer holiday of the Istobensky cucumber. Ritual s alting according to the old recipes of Istobene cucumbers in the program is almost the highlight of the whole event. The holiday usually takes place in late July - early August, when the people have already enjoyed the taste of the first fresh cucumbers, and the hot time for preparations for the winter comes.
. Well, what kind of pickled cucumber and without the first friable boiled potatoes? Here she, dear, will smell sweet all over the district, awakening a wolf's hunger from nowhere.
It will be a long time to celebrate, paying well-deserved honors to the cucumber. Songs, competitions, dances, comic costumed battles… Impressions will last until next year. As well as pickled cucumbers.
Results
It's very good that lately old traditions are slowly returning to our somewhere in a hurry world. And modestly, side by side, the same Istoben cucumbers take their place, crowding hamburgers and gherkins.
