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Fermentation Atlas

Vegetables from Romania, Moldova

Murături (Romanian brined pickles: varză murată, gogonele, castraveți)murături

Murături are the pickles Romanian households put down in autumn for winter. The main one is varză murată, whole cabbage heads soured in brine in a barrel; green tomatoes (gogonele), cucumbers, peppers and cauliflower go into jars, some in plain brine and some in a lightly vinegared marinade. Lactic bacteria do most of the souring. Made in 4 steps over 50 days – 2.8 months. The longest step, sour the cabbage, racking the brine, takes 7–42 days (AGERPRES (Business OTS section) 2026) and runs at 18–22 °C (AGERPRES (Business OTS section) 2026). Salt is 0.6 % → 0.74 % (Mocanu G.-D 2022). Leuconostoc mesenteroides in the first 3–5 days of the cabbage ferment, then Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactic acid bacteria at 4.11–4.63 log CFU per mL of brine at the end of the green-tomato ferment do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7–42 daysReported[agerpres]Sour the cabbage, racking the brine
Temperature18–22 °CReported[agerpres]Sour the cabbage, racking the brine
Salt0.6 % → 0.74 %Measured[mocanu2022]Pickle green tomatoes in jars
Fully documentedVegetables50 days – 2.8 monthsMore vegetablesMore from Romania

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe cabbage brine is a traditional household ratio. The marinade amounts are one laboratory batch of green-tomato pickles from Galați, split into three parts of five jars each.
1.5 tablespoons per litre of waterNon-iodised salt, for the cabbage brine[agerpres]
About 1.5 LWater, boiled, for the green-tomato marinade[mocanu2022]
150 gVinegar (9° acetic acid)[mocanu2022]
112.5 gSugar[mocanu2022]
105 gCelery leaves[mocanu2022]
60 gOnions[mocanu2022]
37.5 gSunflower oil[mocanu2022]
6 gGarlic[mocanu2022]
0.3 g, 0.6 g and 0.6 gBay leaves, allspice and black peppercorns[mocanu2022]
9 g per third of the marinadeSalt (sodium chloride)[mocanu2022]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 50 days – 2.8 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countL. mesenteroidesLactobacillus plantarumLactic acid bacteria

What changes: Whole cabbage heads go under brine in a barrel, weighted with a stone

Step 1 of 4
Put down whole cabbage heads in a barrel
Time
15 days
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
L. mesenteroides
Lactobacillus plantarum
Lactic acid bacteria

The cored heads are filled with salt and packed core up with dill, thyme, horseradish, corn kernels and quince or apple, then covered with brine.

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

What makes this one different

Murături put whole cabbage heads into a barrel of brine, with the brine racked weekly, and pickle green tomatoes as well as cucumbers. Some green-tomato recipes add vinegar and sugar to the brine, so they are partly acid pickles rather than purely lactic ones.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Varză muratăWhole cabbage heads in a barrel of brine; see whole-head sour cabbage.
  • Gogonele murateGreen tomatoes, in brine or a lightly vinegared marinade.
  • Castraveți murațiCucumbers in brine.

Safety

No authority limits specific to murături were found. The green-tomato study kept salt at 0.55–0.74 % in the brine with vinegar in the marinade; brine pickles without vinegar rely on souring alone.

History and sources

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

In Romania cabbage is traditionally put down between St Demetrius' Day (26 October) and St Andrew's Day (30 November). Green pickled tomatoes are described as a traditional product for the cold months.

  1. [agerpres] AGERPRES (Business OTS section), Varza murată românească, tradiție, fermentare și utilizări, 23 January 2026web
  2. [mocanu2022] Mocanu G.-D., Nistor O.-V., Constantin O.E., Andronoiu D.G., Barbu V.V. and Botez E. 2022, The effect of sodium total substitution on the quality characteristics of green pickled tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.), Molecules 27(5), 1609paper