Sun Pickled Cucumber Soup

If you long for a truly refreshing soup on a hot summer day, don’t hesitate to try this one. It comes with a bonus: it’s really easy to make. It takes about 2x 20 minutes, plus 3-4 days in between.

Making pickles using the power of the Sun is an old and wide – spread tradition in Middle-Europe. Sun pickled cucumbers are the most common, but some people use the same technique to make pickled cabbages.

There are a few important things to keep in mind: make sure you have cucumbers suitable for pickling and for best results use naturally leavened bread.

Also, you should wash the cucumbers thoroughly and make sure to cut off any stems or dead flowers, best thing to do is to cut off both ends.

- roughly 1 kg pickling cucumbers

- 30g salt

- 1-2 cloves of garlic

- large bunch of dill

- hot water

- a piece of bread

Clean a large storage jar.Wash the cucumbers thoroughly and cut off both
ends and cut them lengthwise, but make sure that the cucumber does not fall apart.

Dissolve salt in boiling water.

Put garlic cloves and the dill in the jar.Pack cucumbers in tightly, pour the salted water.

Put the bread at the very top.Fill the jar with hot water.Cover it with a plate to keep bugs out.

Place the jar in direct sunlight for approximately three or four days. Sit back and wait. The cucumbers must remain submerged, if some brine (pickling solution) evaporates during the process, just add water. Cucumbers will start changing their color towards the 2nd or 3rd day, depending on the weather conditions.

This is what pickles look like when they are ready. Remove the bread and store the cucumbers in the fridge

- 400g sun pickled cucumbers

- 350g vegetable / chicken stock

- 300g yogurt

- 300 g brine

- 1 small garlic clove

- 4 slices of ham or bacon, sliced

- olive oil

- fresh dill

Chop the cucumber and the garlic, put them in a pan. Add the yoghurt, the cold chicken stock and the brine and using a hand blender process the soup. No cooking needed! You might find it necessary to add a pinch of salt.

Cut the ham into strips and fry.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls, place the slices of ham on top, sprinkle with olive oil and a little fresh dill.