Made: 2023-07-16
Bottle gourd - also called calabash - is a squash with very squishy, white flesh. I bought it in my local Middle Eastern shop, peeled it and scraped out the softest part with the (tiny) seeds. Then I cut it into long pieces and put it into 3.5% salt brine. Slightly higher salt concentration than the usual 3% I use for most vegetables, since it was such soft flesh. Also, it’s currently summer, and even though it’s not very warm (around 20C) some days get a bit hotter than usual.
2023-07-20: Tasted after 4 days. Slightly acidic but not enough yet. Consistency of vegetable is comparable to mushroom. Leave another couple of days.
2023-07-26: Put in the fridge since the pieces started to get a bit mushy and disintegrate. After a few days in the fridge they had firmed up somewhat, but the texture is still very soft and kind of unpleasantly squishy. Tastes ok and sour, but also a bit like it’s going bad. I ate some for dinner and had a very inflated stomach for the rest of the evening ☹️. Threw it away. Too soft vegetable to ferment?