A third-floor kitchen in Gràcia, Catalonia
Market vegetables, weighed salt, and a record of every jar.
A Gràcia kitchen notebook on lacto-fermented vegetables: brine by weight, olives from the autumn crates, peppers in August heat, and jars that went wrong.
jars on the balcony since 2021
| Morning reading | Brine | Per litre |
|---|---|---|
| under 20 °C | 2 % | 20 g |
| February kitchen. Carrots sour in ten days and stay crisp. | ||
| 20 to 26 °C | 3 % | 30 g |
| Late spring. The first warm week always arrives early. | ||
| 26 to 30 °C | 3.5 % | 35 g |
| July indoors. Check every morning before work. | ||
| over 30 °C | 4 % | 40 g |
| Balcony in August. Start in the cupboard instead. | ||
Jars on the shelf this year
Newest jar on the left. Each one opens into the full write-up, with the weights that were on its tape.
- Olives · 21 Feb 2026Curing green olives from an October crate, one water change at a timeCracking and water-curing a crate of fresh green olives in a small flat, then moving them into a strong brine with fennel and orange peel, with timings from two seasons.9 minutes to read
- Summer · 6 Sept 2025Peppers at thirty-four degrees: an August of jars on the balconyKeeping whole peppers fermenting through a Barcelona August: brine strength, the white film, the cupboard that runs cooler, and a lid that did not hold.9 minutes to read
- Market · 19 Apr 2025A year of the market stall: what goes into jars each monthMonth by month through the vegetables on the stalls near my flat, which ones ferment well, which disappoint, and how the calendar in Barcelona differs from England.9 minutes to read
- Brine · 26 Jan 2025Two percent is a starting point: brine by weight for a hot flatWhy I weigh salt against water rather than trusting spoons, how I choose between two and five percent, and what a Barcelona summer does to the numbers.8 minutes to read
Four rules stuck to the fridge
- Weigh the salt and the water, never measure salt by the spoon.
- Write the balcony temperature on the jar, not just the date.
- Anything soft, pink or furry below the brine goes in the bin.
- Follow the market stall, not the recipe.
Why the notebook exists
I ferment vegetables from the market at the end of my street in a flat with one small balcony, and I write each batch up with the salt weighed to the gram, because a jar that worked is only useful if I can make it again.