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Fermentation Atlas

Vegetables from Balkans and Romania

Whole-head sour cabbagekiseli kupus u glavicama

Whole heads of white cabbage are cored, salted in the core and packed tightly in a barrel under brine and a stone. Over one to several weeks lactic bacteria sour them, while the brine is drawn off at the bottom and poured back over the top. The whole sour leaves are used to wrap sarma and sarmale, and the brine is drunk. Made in 4 steps over 7 days – 42 days. The longest step, ferment, drawing off the brine and pouring it back, takes 7–42 days (AGERPRES (Business OTS section) 2026) and runs at 18–22 °C (AGERPRES (Business OTS section) 2026). Salt is 6 % (Бексеев Ш.Г. (Bekseev Sh.G.)). Lactic acid bacteria, with the heterofermenters Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lactobacillus brevis playing a smaller part in whole heads than in shredded cabbage and Leuconostoc mesenteroides in the first 3–5 days, then Lactobacillus plantarum do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7–42 daysReported[agerpres]Ferment, drawing off the brine and pouring it back
Temperature18–22 °CReported[agerpres]Ferment, drawing off the brine and pouring it back
Salt6 %Reported[bekseev][agerpres]Pack the heads in a barrel and cover with brine

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceHousehold barrel tradition with no fixed batch size; the salt is a traditional Romanian brine ratio given in a 2026 article. A Russian whole-head method uses a stronger 6 % brine.
Firm autumn cabbage heads · Damaged outer leaves removed, core cut out and hollowed[agerpres]
1.5 tablespoons per litre of waterNon-iodised salt, for the brine · Salt is also packed into each hollow core[agerpres]
Dried dill, thyme, horseradish, corn kernels, quince or apple slices · Optional flavourings laid between the layers[agerpres]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 7 days – 42 days

Start
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Close-up: salt moving into a grain

What changes: Cabbage heads are cored and the hollow cores are filled with salt

Step 1 of 4
Core the heads and fill the cores with salt
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
L. mesenteroides
Lactobacillus brevis
Lactobacillus plantarum

Output: salted heads.

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

The heads are fermented whole in brine, not shredded and dry-salted as in sauerkraut. The brine is drawn off and poured back during the ferment, and whole heads leave the heterofermenting bacteria a smaller part than in shredded cabbage.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Ogulinski kiseli kupusCroatian sour cabbage, registered as an EU PDO in 2015.
  • Russian whole headsSmall cored heads in 6 % brine, or laid between layers of shredded cabbage salted at 2.5 %.

Safety

No authority limits specific to whole-head cabbage were found. The heads are kept fully under the brine and weighted down, and the barrel is moved somewhere cool once the cabbage is sour.

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). A 1962 study of Yugoslav fermented cabbage compared whole heads in brine with shredded cabbage.

  1. [pederson1962] Pederson C.S., Niketić G. and Albury M.N. 1962, Fermentation of the Yugoslavian pickled cabbage, Applied Microbiology 10(1), 86–89 (abstract)paper
  2. [agerpres] AGERPRES (Business OTS section), Varza murată românească, tradiție, fermentare și utilizări, 23 January 2026web
  3. [bekseev] Бексеев Ш.Г. (Bekseev Sh.G.), Большая энциклопедия огородничества (Great encyclopedia of vegetable growing), chapter Ways of processing vegetables, online textbook
  4. [eu-ogulin] EU eAmbrosia register, Ogulinski kiseli kupus / Ogulinsko kiselo zelje, PDO-HR-1233, registered by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1413spec