Mushroom Marinade per Liter of Water for Winter

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   To make a marinade for mushrooms, take water, vinegar (this is a recipe from Soviet times, when vinegar essence was common; today you can use 70% vinegar instead), salt, sugar, and a set of spices: bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. A marinade tested over decades, you could say.

2. Step 2:

   

   Pour the water into the pot you'll make the marinade in. It shouldn't be a small one — though that depends on how many mushrooms you have. The thing is, for the pickled mushrooms to keep better, it's best to boil them in this marinade, then cool them and pack them into clean jars. So, add sugar to the liter of water exactly as the recipe says.

3. Step 3:

   

   Now for the salt — note the spoons switch from tablespoons to teaspoons; do exactly as written in the recipe. The mushrooms come out fantastic — they're usually a runaway hit at every celebration, both at home and at work. Bring the solution to a boil until the salt and sugar crystals dissolve, then carefully pour in the vinegar — it'll foam up, as always, so don't fill the pot to the top.

4. Step 4:

   

   Add the spices and boil everything together for about 5 minutes. That's it — the mushroom marinade is ready. It has a pronounced sweet-and-sour taste, so if you prefer almost neutral pickled mushrooms, give it a taste first.

5. Step 5:

   

   All that's left is to add the pre-boiled mushrooms, cook them in the marinade for 10–15 minutes, cool them, and pack them into clean jars. I never sterilize mushrooms because of the risk of botulism, but if you need to, you can sterilize them your usual way — just longer than for vegetables. The marinade should be about 30% of the jar's volume; you can gauge it from the photo of the jar of chanterelles.