Jota

Every country has a dish (or dishes), specific to that region. And one of my favourite dishes from home that I dearly miss here in the United States of America, is a dish, called ‘jota’. At this point, you might be wondering why don’t I just make it by myself if I miss it so much. Believe me, I tried, but it is just not the same as when my mum makes it. And since this dish is not only one of my favourite dishes ever, but it is also one of the most famous dishes in my country, I decided to share that recipe with you. This dish takes a while to prepare, but it is well worth the effort.

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This is the dish you will be preparing. Looks delicious, I know. This is why I am sharing the recipe with you.

Ingredients

• 500 grams of sauerkraut
• 300 grams of brown beans
• 300 grams of potatoes
• 300 grams of smoked pork ribs
• Four tablespoons of pork grease
• One teaspoon of crushed red peppers
• Salt and pepper
• Six garlic cloves
• Four sweet bay leaves
• A few marjoram leaves

Preparation

A very important thing to keep in mind when making jota is remembering to soak the brown beans in a bowl of cold water overnight. This will shorten preparation time, because the beans will take much less time to cook if previously soaked.

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Soaking the beans overnight is a vital part of making jota. After all, if you do not soak them, they will not be cooked all the way.

First, peel the onions and dice them into as small pieces as possible. Then, take a medium sized pan and put two tablespoons of pork grease in it. Heat it up over medium heat, and when it is liquefied, add onions. Cook until the onion turns golden brown. When cooking onions on a pork grease, you will have to add a little bit of water, so the texture becomes creamy. After that, add water - it should fill about three quarters of the pan. Stir well and then add brown beans and smoked pork ribs. You can either put them in the pan whole, or cut them into smaller pieces. The taste will be the same.

Stir again and add pepper. Cover the pan and cook over medium heat for thirty minutes. In the meantime, cut the potatoes into small pieces. Again, the smaller the better. After thirty minutes, add the sliced potatoes and sweet bay leaves. Cook for another thirty minutes in a covered pan, and do not forget to occasionally stir. Then add sauerkraut. And here, you have two options. If you would like the jota to be sour, just put the sauerkraut in there as it is, but if you would like it not to be so sour, you can wash the sauerkraut before putting in in the pan.

Stir well and cook for thirty more minutes. Towards the end, take a small pan and put the remaining two tablespoons of pork grease in it. Then, add minced garlic and cook for a minute over the medium heat. Then, add one teaspoon of crushed red peppers, stir and pour into jota. Stir well and cook over medium heat for fifteen minutes. At the end, add salt and marjoram leaves. Let jota cool down for fifteen minutes before serving.

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Some people like jota more dense, some more liquid. If you prefer the denser version, just add a little less water. For a more liquid version, adding half a cup of water will be enough.

Suggestions

If you want, you can add sour cream to jota. It will give the dish a very special taste. Personally, I prefer jota without sour cream, but sour cream is a part of the traditional recipe. You can just put a cup of sour cream on the table when serving jota, and whoever wants to try it, can add it to the dish. If you want, you can also sprinkle some bacon bits on top of jota.

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Some people also add sausage to jota, which is supposed to give it a better taste. Well, I like the 'plain' version much better.

Jota takes a long time to prepare, but the good thing about its preparation is definitely the fact that you only need two pans, and you do not need to cook each ingredient separately.

Another good thing about jota is the fact that this dish is good as a leftover food for up to a week after making. And I personally think that jota is tastier when you eat it on the second or third day after making it!

And the most important suggestion: Enjoy!

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