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Vegetables from Lebanon

Kabees el lift (Levantine pink turnip pickle)كبيس اللفت

Kabees el lift is sliced turnip packed in a jar with a few slices of beetroot, covered with warm brine and vinegar, sealed and left to ferment for one week to one month. The beet turns the turnips pink, and the colour fades as the pickle ages. Five Lebanese market brands measured pH 3.1–3.6 and 3.8–5.6 % salt.

Fully documentedVegetables7 days – 30 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe home method in Tlais et al. (2020) gives no amounts. The amounts listed come from one US home recipe for a quart jar, kept in the refrigerator.
Turnips, sliced[tlais2020]
Beetroot, a few slicesFor colour only[tlais2020]
Warm brine[tlais2020]
Vinegar[tlais2020]
White turnips, in 1/2-inch wedges (refrigerator recipe)1 1/4 pounds[abood]
Beet (refrigerator recipe)1 small[abood]
Brine (refrigerator recipe)1 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup cold water, 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt[abood]
Garlic; a jalapeño or chilli flakes and pickling spice are optional (refrigerator recipe)3 cloves[abood]

Total time across the recorded steps: 7 days – 30 days

Start
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What changes: Sliced turnips are packed into a glass jar with a few slices of beet

Step 1 of 4
Slice the turnips and a little beet and pack them in a jar
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus
Leuconostoc

Output: packed jar of turnip and beet slices.

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

Kabees el lift is sliced turnip packed in a jar with a few slices of beetroot, covered with warm brine and vinegar, sealed and left to ferment for one week to one month. The beet turns the turnips pink, and the colour fades as the pickle ages. Five Lebanese market brands measured pH 3.1–3.6 and 3.8–5.6 % salt. Made in 4 steps over 7 days – 30 days. The longest step, ferment until sour and pink, takes 7–30 days (Tlais S 2020). Salt is 3.8–5.6 % (Tlais S 2020). Lactobacillus and Leuconostoc lactic acid bacteria, found in senmaizuke, a related Kyoto turnip pickle made with vinegar (Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc or both predominated in the vinegar-type products); no study of kabees el lift names its microbes does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7–30 daysReported[tlais2020]Ferment until sour and pink
Salt3.8–5.6 %Measured[tlais2020]Ferment until sour and pink
AciditypH 3.1–3.6Measured[tlais2020]Ferment until sour and pink

What makes this one different

Kabees el lift is coloured by a few slices of beetroot, which only colour it and do not lengthen its life. The home method in the Lebanese study combines brine and vinegar and is left sealed to ferment, while Abood's refrigerator recipe is a vinegar pickle that she sets apart from fermented turnips.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Vinegar refrigerator pickleVinegar, water and salt brine, refrigerated for at least 3 days and up to a couple of months (Abood). Abood calls it a refrigerator pickle and sets it apart from fermenting turnips.
  • Salt-brine fermented liftTurnips fermented in salt and water with no vinegar, ready in about 5–7 days kept in a dark place (Abood).

Safety

The Lebanese study compared its samples with the Codex Alimentarius limit of pH 4.6 for pickled vegetables and the Lebanese standard (LIBNOR) of no more than 12 % salt; all five brands were below both. Vinegar refrigerator versions must stay in the refrigerator, as they are not canned.

History and sources

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

Turnips are available fresh for only a few months a year, and turnip fermentation became one of the oldest solutions for having them all year (Tlais et al. 2020). That study cites about 76 registered pickle factories in Lebanon, and $17 million of the $27 million annual production of Lebanese pickled vegetables coming from exports.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [tlais2020] Tlais S., Omairi H., Al Khatib A., HajjHussein H. 2020, Compliance of Lebanese pickling industry with Lebanese and international standards, Turkish Journal of Agriculture, Food Science and Technology 8(7):1559–1563paper
  2. [abood] Maureen Abood, Lebanese pickled turnips (refrigerator recipe), maureenabood.com, read 2026-10web
  3. [iguchi2021] Iguchi H., 2021, Microbial characterization of the Japanese traditional pickle senmaizuke produced by two different manufacturing processes, Food Science & Nutrition 9(8)paper