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Fruit from Russia, Ukraine

Salted/fermented watermelon (solyonye or kvashenye arbuzy)солёные арбузы

Small whole watermelons, pricked, or wedges of larger ones are packed into barrels or jars and covered with salt brine, sometimes with apples, dill, garlic or horseradish. They start fermenting at room temperature and then mature in the cold through the winter, turning fizzy, salty and sour.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Salted/fermented watermelon itself.

Short entryFruit

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
small whole watermelons or wedges
brine
optionally apples
horseradish
dill
garlic
Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Whole pricked melons, or wedges, are packed and covered with brine

Step 1 of 3
Pack the melons and cover with brine
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
about 6% (e.g. 240 g salt in 4 L water in one recipe)
Unconfirmed
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Small whole watermelons, pricked, or wedges of larger ones are packed into barrels or jars and covered with salt brine, sometimes with apples, dill, garlic or horseradish. They start fermenting at room temperature and then mature in the cold through the winter, turning fizzy, salty and sour.

What makes this one different

Whole watermelons are fermented in barrels like cucumbers or cabbage; the sweet flesh turns fizzy and sour.

Related ferments

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [s1] Darra Goldstein, Brined watermelonweb
  2. [s2] vikna.tv, Kvashenye arbuzy na zimu (Russian recipe article)web