Chef Joost
Appelcompote
Appelcompote is the apple left with its dignity: soft enough to spoon beside pork or potatoes, still chunky enough to remind you autumn did the real work.
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Zure Bom
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Zure bom is Dutch pickling with no manners and no apology: a fat cucumber kept whole, sharpened by vinegar and salt, and fished from the jar when the snackbar hunger arrives.
Sauces & Condiments
Dutch
Make Ahead
Budget Friendly
20 min
Active Time
5 min cook•132 hr 25 min total
Yield2 one-liter jars, about 8 large pickles
In my grandmother's second notebook, the pickle pages are the most practical pages in the whole book. No romance, no flourishes, only komkommers op zuur, cucumbers in sour brine, written in the sort of hand that has already washed the jars and knows dinner will not wait for poetry. But let me tell you a secret: the Dutch larder has always been more interesting than the Dutch reputation. We preserved not because it was charming, but because August is generous and February is not.
The name already tells you almost everything. Zure bom means sour bomb, and for once there is no need to drag Latin into the kitchen by its collar. It is a fat cucumber, pickled whole, big enough to be a small meal and sour enough to wake up a plate of fries, a broodje kaas, or a herring from the stall. This is tafelzuur, table sour, the sharp thing set beside the rich thing so your mouth keeps wanting the next bite.
The trick is patience disguised as laziness. Salt the cucumbers first so they give up some water and take seasoning into their flesh. Boil the brine so the mustard seed, pepper, bay, and dill speak clearly, then cool it before it meets the cucumbers, because crunch is a thing worth defending. Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple. A jar, a brine, a week in the cold. Hurry it and the outside tastes pickled while the heart is still only cucumber wearing a vinegar coat.
Tafelzuur, literally table sour, belongs to the Dutch preserving tradition in which vinegar pickles were served beside fatty fish, fried snacks, cheese sandwiches, and cold meats to cut richness and stretch modest meals. The large sour cucumber became especially visible in Amsterdam market and snackbar culture during the twentieth century, with zuurwaren, pickled-goods shops and makers such as Amsterdam's Kesbeke, founded in 1948, helping turn everyday pickles into a city habit. Zure bom is not a refined name but an exact one: a whole cucumber made emphatically sour, eaten out of hand as much as served on a plate.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small unwaxed pickling cucumbers
Quantity
1kg
scrubbed
cold water for salt soak
Quantity
1 liter
fine sea salt for salt soak
Quantity
40g
white vinegar, 5% acidity, preferably Dutch natuurazijn
Quantity
750ml
water for brine
Quantity
500ml
fine sea salt for brine
Quantity
40g
sugar (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
yellow mustard seeds
Quantity
2 teaspoons
black peppercorns
Quantity
1 teaspoon
coriander seeds
Quantity
1 teaspoon
bay leaves
Quantity
4
dill sprigs or dill flower heads
Quantity
6 sprigs or 2 flower heads
small white onion
Quantity
1
thinly sliced
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small unwaxed pickling cucumbersscrubbed | 1kg |
| cold water for salt soak | 1 liter |
| fine sea salt for salt soak | 40g |
| white vinegar, 5% acidity, preferably Dutch natuurazijn | 750ml |
| water for brine | 500ml |
| fine sea salt for brine | 40g |
| sugar (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
| yellow mustard seeds | 2 teaspoons |
| black peppercorns | 1 teaspoon |
| coriander seeds | 1 teaspoon |
| bay leaves | 4 |
| dill sprigs or dill flower heads | 6 sprigs or 2 flower heads |
| small white onionthinly sliced | 1 |
Equipment Needed
- •2 clean one-liter glass jars with lids
- •Large non-reactive saucepan
- •Small plate or clean pickle weights
Instructions
- 1
Trim the cucumbers
Scrub the cucumbers well, then trim a thin slice from the blossom end, the end opposite the stem. That little cut matters. The blossom end carries enzymes that soften pickles, and a zure bom should bend your manners before it bends under your teeth.
- 2
Salt overnight
Dissolve 40g salt in 1 liter cold water, add the cucumbers, and weigh them down with a small plate so they stay submerged. Refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours. This first salting pulls out a little water, firms the flesh, and starts seasoning the cucumber all the way in.
- 3
Boil the brine
Drain and rinse the cucumbers, then pat them dry. In a non-reactive saucepan, bring the vinegar, 500ml water, 40g salt, sugar if using, mustard seed, peppercorns, coriander seed, and bay leaves to a boil. Let it bubble for 2 minutes, then take it off the heat and cool completely. Hot brine is efficient, yes, but it softens the cucumber; I prefer the crunch to survive the paperwork.
- 4
Pack the jars
Put the dill and sliced onion into two clean one-liter jars, then pack in the cucumbers upright if they fit, sideways if they do not. Proper is whatever gets the lid closed. Pour the cooled brine over the cucumbers, including the spices, and make sure everything is fully covered.
- 5
Weight and chill
Use a small clean weight, folded piece of baking parchment, or very clean spoon laid across the top to keep the cucumbers under the brine. Close the jars and refrigerate for at least 5 days, turning them once a day if a cucumber tries to float above its station. The colour will dull from bright green to olive, and the brine will smell sharp, grassy, and clean.
This is a refrigerator pickle, not a shelf-stable preserve. Keep it cold unless you use a tested water-bath canning method with the same vinegar strength. - 6
Serve sour
Eat after 5 days, better after 7. Fish one cucumber from the jar with clean tongs, serve it whole, split it lengthwise, or cut it into thick coins. A real zure bom should taste first of vinegar and salt, then cucumber, then dill and bay quietly in the background. If it makes you reach for the next bite of fries, it has done its work.
Chef Tips
- •Use small unwaxed pickling cucumbers, not long waxed salad cucumbers. Wax keeps the brine out, and watery cucumbers go hollow before they go properly sour.
- •Do not reduce the vinegar. The sourness is the dish, and the acidity is also part of the safety. If you want a gentler pickle, make augurken, small gherkins, another day.
- •The tide sets the menu, and so does the garden. Make these in cucumber season, high summer into early autumn, when the cucumbers are firm, cheap, and full of snap.
- •Use clean tongs every time you go into the jar. Fingers bring the wrong history with them.
Advance Preparation
- •The cucumbers need 8 to 12 hours in the salt soak before they are jarred.
- •The pickles are ready after 5 days in the refrigerator and best after 7 days.
- •Keeps about 4 weeks refrigerated, as long as the cucumbers stay submerged and you use clean tongs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 130g)
Calories
25 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
5 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
1 g
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