Jonjoli — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Tangy fermented bladdernut flower buds tossed with sliced onions and a drizzle of oil — a uniquely Georgian pickle found nowhere else in the world.

Ingredients

500g fresh bladdernut blossoms (jonjoli)
2 tbsp salt
Water for brining
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Fresh cilantro for garnish

Instructions

1 Rinse the fresh bladdernut blossoms thoroughly, removing any stems or leaves, and place them in a clean glass jar.
2 Dissolve salt in water to make a brine, pour over the blossoms until fully submerged, and cover loosely with a cloth.
3 Ferment at room temperature for five to seven days until the blossoms develop a pleasant tangy and slightly sour flavor.
4 Drain the fermented jonjoli, rinse lightly, and squeeze out excess brine by pressing gently with clean hands.
5 Toss the drained jonjoli with thinly sliced red onion, sunflower oil, and a splash of red wine vinegar in a bowl.
6 Serve at room temperature as part of a meze spread, garnished with fresh cilantro alongside bread and other appetizers.

Did You Know?

Jonjoli is so uniquely Georgian that most food dictionaries in other languages have no translation for it — it simply does not exist in other cuisines.