How sour ingredients unlock a world of flavor in home cooking

I remember standing in the kitchen with my mum, lining up jars of pickles on the table, ready to be sealed and carried outside. In winter, our apartment balcony became an extra pantry: a barrel of sauerkraut beside jars of fermented green tomatoes and gherkins, vinegar-pickled bell peppers and bottles of tomato juice.

In Romania, fermenting and pickling are something of a national sport — and a point of family pride. Even if some people buy theirs from the market, almost all of us crave that sour flavor: salty, a little fizzy and unmistakably alive. For Romanians, this is not a culinary trend chasing novelty, but a story of continuity and resilience.

For generations, preserving vegetables helped families survive the lean period between seasons, when fresh food ran low. Over time, this necessity turned pickles into ingredients in their own right. In Romanian cooking, they rarely stay on the sidelines — slipping into soups, salads and stews, with nothing wasted, not even the juice.

Fermenting and pickling create what Romanians broadly call “sour” foods, a defining flavor of our cuisine, and many others. The terms are often used interchangeably but they’re not quite the same. Fermentation usually happens in salt or brine — a process called lacto-fermentation. Bacteria transform the sugars in vegetables into lactic acid, preserving them while unlocking nutrients and the benefits of probiotics that support gut health.

Pickling relies on vinegar, often balanced with a little sugar. It doesn’t rely on probiotics, but it delivers a bright, sharp acidity that wakes up the palate.

Sourness is more than one of the five basic tastes — it’s a method for seasoning. Fermented and pickled ingredients are naturally salty and layered with complex flavors that can brighten and balance dishes. Think sauerkraut, fermented pickles in brine, pickled peppers, sour cream, fermented grains, cheese, vinegar and yogurt.

Traditionally, fermentation required patience. Barrels of cabbage might sit for weeks or months before they are ready. But harnessing the power of sour doesn’t require a full winter pantry project. Many fermented foods are now widely available, and you may already have some in your refrigerator.

One caveat: Many store-bought versions are pasteurized, meaning some probiotics don’t survive the process. Whether that matters depends on how you use them. If you’re cooking with fermented or pickled ingredients, the difference is minimal. But if you’re eating them raw or using them as condiments, look for products labeled “live” or “raw,” which still contain the full spectrum of cultures.

Once you start thinking about all the uses for sour ingredients, they can start to transform your everyday cooking. Here are some ways to get started.

Soups

In clear soups or broths, a splash of vinegar can add surprising brightness and depth. Do this at the end of cooking to preserve the sharpness and keep it from cooking out.

Vegetarian soups benefit from a generous spoonful of sour cream, which gives them a silky, satisfying body.

Leafy green soups are especially good with cheese and added buttermilk or whey. Layering one sour ingredient on top of another creates a richness that feels comforting and refreshing. Meatball soups get a subtle, fermented depth when the sour ingredient is sauerkraut juice. For other meat-based soups, tart fruits such as gooseberries — or tangy vegetables such as thinly sliced rhubarb stalks — added before serving bring a natural and vivid acidity to dishes.

Salads

During the height of summer, chilled fermented pickles served over ice are among the most refreshing snacks imaginable. They also help replace the salt your body might have lost because of the heat.

A salad of lettuce and cucumbers tossed with sour cream makes an ideal companion to grilled meat, especially when dusted with sweet paprika.

Other salad recipes rely on the same tangy flavor profile: sliced beets with gherkins and grated horseradish, lightly bound with mayonnaise, or potato and egg salads sharpened with pickles — gherkins, red peppers or capers. Salad Olivier is a great example of this, too.

Even simple sauerkraut, drizzled with oil and finished with black pepper, can bring a crisp snap to sandwiches — the quality that makes a Reuben so irresistible.

Stews

Fermented and pickled ingredients can be enjoyed cooked as well as raw. Sauerkraut, for instance, becomes mellow and complex when sautéed with a little oil and tomato sauce. It’s a natural partner for roasted duck legs. While not quite the same as a stovetop stew, Sheet-Pan Sausages With Sauerkraut and Mustard features a similar kind of saucy, sour-edged satisfaction.

Pickled vegetables can take center stage, too. Whole pickled bell peppers stuffed with cooked white beans and gently simmered in tomato sauce create a stewlike dish that is naturally creamy and sharp — a combination that brings the flavors to life.

And if you’re curious about using pickles in cooking, my Pickle Stew With Ham and Potatoes (Mancare de Castraveti Acri) will show you how.

Pasta

One of the quickest dinners I know comes from Transylvania: pasta tossed with sauerkraut and caraway seeds. The sauerkraut can be raw or sautéed. It’s humble and surprisingly satisfying. But there are plenty of ingredients that can bring sour depth to otherwise rich pasta dishes, such as pickled cherry peppers or crème fraîche.

Desserts

Sour flavors have a secret life in desserts, especially when they come from farmer cheese, sour cream or crème fraîche. They can also temper the sweet tendencies of many recipes, such as in Sour Cream Maple Cake With Maple Buttercream Frosting.

Added to cake, fritter or doughnut batter, they produce a tender crumb and delicate tang, which you’ll also find in papanasi, Romania’s fried cheese doughnuts, or in syrniki, Russian pancakes. Farmer cheese can stand on its own when served with poached fruit and a drizzle of honey for a dessert that feels both rustic and elegant.

Drinks

Sourness even finds its way into drinks, such as kefir (and water kefir), tepache and kombucha. Shrubs — mixtures of vinegar, honey or sugar, and water, often infused with fruit or herbs — were once a common way to make refreshing beverages. They are thought to aid digestion and help keep blood sugar levels under control when enjoyed before meals. Switchels, also made with vinegar, are another similar option.

For those drawn to fermentation projects, there is also braga, a mildly sweet, slightly tangy drink of Ottoman origin that’s popular across the Balkans and also known as boza. Traditionally made from fermented millet, it belongs to a family of grain drinks that includes Russian kvass and Romanian bors — each with its own story and shaped by the same simple idea.

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Pickle Stew With Ham and Potatoes (Mancare de Castraveti Acri)

⅓ cup sunflower oil or other neutral oil

1 large yellow onion (10 ounces), halved and thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

18 ounces boneless pork or beef ideal for slow-cooking*, cut into approximately 2-inch pieces

1 cup water

18 ounces refrigerated sour or dill pickles in brine (from two 32-ounce jars), cut into ¾-inch slices

2 large potatoes (any type; about 1½ pounds total), peeled, if desired, and cut into bite-size pieces

One (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with their juices

Fine salt

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup finely chopped fresh dill or flat-leaf parsley

Crusty bread, for serving

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion and cook for about 7 minutes, stirring often, until softened. (There is no need to add salt at this stage, as the pickles will season the dish later.)

Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the meat and stir well to combine with the onion and garlic. Cover and cook for 8 minutes, allowing the meat to release its juices rather than browning. This will make a wonderful base for the stew.

Pour in the water, cover the pan again and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a gentle simmer, for 90 minutes, or until the meat is tender.

When the meat is tender, stir in the pickles, potatoes and tomatoes. Cover the pan and cook, still over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for another 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

Taste and season with salt and black pepper, as desired. Sprinkle with the dill, and serve, with the bread on the side.

Substitutions: To make this vegetarian, omit the meat, double the potatoes or pickles, and use vegetable broth instead of water, with a reduction to the cooking time. For beef or pork, you can use other meats, such as chicken, rabbit and game, with an adjustment to the cooking time. If you want to skip the potatoes, omit, and just serve the stew with bread, if desired. For yellow onion, use white onion.

*Notes: We tested this recipe with pork shoulder, but other options include pork belly, brisket, or beef rump or shoulder.

Servings: 4-6 (makes about 8 cups)

Active time: 50 mins. Total time: 3 hours.

Make ahead: The flavors of the stew improve after a day of refrigeration.

Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days, or freeze, without the herbs, for up to 2 months.

Nutritional facts per serving (1⅓ cups), based on 6: Calories: 348, Fat: 17 g, Saturated Fat: 3 g, Carbohydrates: 31 g, Sodium: 960 mg, Cholesterol: 50 mg, Protein: 19 g, Fiber: 2 g, Sugar: 5 g.

— Adapted from “Carpathia: Food From the Heart of Romania” by Irina Georgescu (Interlink Books, 2020).

•••

SOUR CREAM MAPLE CAKE WITH MAPLE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

FOR THE CAKE

Unsalted butter, softened, for greasing the pan

2½ cups (344 grams) flour, plus more for dusting the pan

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (240 milliliters) dark-grade pure maple syrup

½ cup (120 milliliters) canola oil

½ cup (120 milliliters) whole milk, at room temperature

2 large eggs, at room temperature and lightly beaten

¼ cup (50 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar

¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

¼ cup (60 grams) sour cream, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FOR THE FROSTING

8 tablespoons (1 stick/113 grams) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups (200 grams) confectioners’ sugar

3 tablespoons sour cream, at room temperature

2 tablespoons dark-grade pure maple syrup, plus more for drizzling*

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F with the rack in the middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, letting excess extend over the sides of the pan (the overhang will give you handles to lift out the cake after it's baked).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the maple syrup, oil, milk, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, sour cream and vanilla, and stir with a rubber spatula just until combined and no streaks of flour remain. (There will be some lumps in the batter; this is okay.) Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Tap the pan on the counter eight times to release air bubbles.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until deep golden and a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, covering with foil after 20 minutes to prevent excessive browning. (It may dip in the middle, but don’t worry.) Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Using the parchment overhang as handles, remove cake from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the frosting: In the same (cleaned-out) bowl you used to make the cake, beat the butter with a handheld mixer on medium speed until creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. (You can do this in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, if you prefer.) Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, beating until combined. Add the sour cream, maple syrup and salt, and beat at medium-high speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Do not overbeat.

Spread the frosting onto the cooled cake. Drizzle with additional maple syrup and serve.

Active: 30 minutes. Total: 1 hour, plus cooling time.

12 to 16 servings (makes one 9-inch cake)

*Note: Look for dark-grade maple syrup, such as Grade A dark color/robust flavor or Grade A very dark/strong flavor.

Make ahead: The baked cake can be made a day in advance and stored, tightly wrapped, at room temperature.

Nutrition (based on 16 servings): Calories: 340; Total Fat: 15 g; Saturated Fat: 6 g; Cholesterol: 45 mg; Sodium: 150 mg; Carbohydrates: 51 g; Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Sugars: 22 g; Protein: 3 g.

— Adapted from a recipe in Bake From Scratch magazine, 2019

•••

•••

Sheet-Pan Sausages With Sauerkraut and Mustard

Canola or olive oil, for greasing

3 cups (20 ounces) sauerkraut with its liquid

2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cabbage (any kind)

1 small red onion (about 5 ounces), sliced

1 tablespoon mustard, preferably whole grain, plus more for serving

1 pound pork sausage, such as Polish or sweet or hot Italian (about 5; may substitute veggie sausage)

1 cup hard or fresh apple cider

Sprigs of fresh thyme, for garnish (optional)

Crusty bread, sandwich rolls, or roasted or mashed potatoes, for serving (optional)

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400°F.

Grease a large, rimmed baking sheet with oil and add the sauerkraut, cabbage, onion and mustard. Using tongs or your hands, mix until the mustard is evenly distributed and then flatten into an even layer.

Nestle the sausages atop the vegetables and pour the cider over everything. Roast for 15 minutes, then rotate the pan front to back and roast for another 15 minutes, or until the sausages are cooked through and the cabbage and onions are tender. Add the thyme sprigs, if using, before serving family-style with additional crusty bread, sandwich rolls or potatoes and mustard, if using.

Active time: 10 minutes. Total time: 40 minutes.

4 servings

Storage Notes: Leftovers can be refrigerated in a covered container for up to 4 days.

Substitutions: To make this vegan, use large, cooked or canned and drained, white beans or vegan sausages instead of the pork sausages. To reduce the sodium content, use low-sodium sausage, rinse the sauerkraut, or omit the kraut and use 5 cups shredded cabbage instead. If you prefer a less acidic dish, use more fresh cabbage than sauerkraut. Dislike onion? Slice up a potato instead. No apple cider? White wine, beer (alcoholic or not) or vegetable broth will work here, too.

Nutrition information per serving (1¼ sausage and 1½ cups vegetables): Calories: 292; Total Fat: 19 g; Saturated Fat: 6 g; Cholesterol: 81 mg; Sodium: 1612 mg; Carbohydrates: 9 g; Dietary Fiber: 5 g; Sugars: 3 g; Protein: 21 g.

— G. Daniela Galarza, The Washington Post, 2022