Pickled buds and sprouts of the bladdernut bush, dressed with oil and onion as a sour, floral appetizer. A near-essential opener of the Georgian supra, most commonly pickled in Kakheti where the bush grows wild.
Jonjoli is a pickle of the buds and sprouts of the bladdernut bush (Staphylea colchica), served dressed with oil and red onion as a sour, floral appetizer. It is a near-essential opener of the Georgian supra (feast), and the pickling is documented as most common in Kakheti, where the bush grows wild. TasteAtlas and Georgia.to both note its integral place at Georgian feasts. It is shared across western Georgia and Samegrelo as well, but its strongest association is Kakhetian.
Crisp, tangy and faintly floral, with a caper-like quality, dressed in oil with sharp raw onion. A small forkful cuts through the richness of a supra plate, refreshing and briny at once.
The fresh jonjoli buds and sprouts are packed in a salt-and-vinegar brine and left to ferment-pickle for about two weeks, during which they soften slightly and take on their tangy, floral character. The pickling must be done in spring when the buds are fresh. To serve, the drained jonjoli is dressed simply with sunflower oil, sliced red onion and sometimes a pinch of chili; the dressing is minimal so the pickle leads.
Variations
A Megrelian version adds chopped herbs. Some households add a clove of garlic to the jar.
On the Palate
Where Jonjoli sits in the Georgian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 10How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 16 min
Rinse 500g fresh jonjoli buds and sprouts very well in cold water; drain.
- 26 min
Pack them tightly into clean jars with 2 cloves garlic, a few black peppercorns and a bay leaf each.
- 35 min
Make a brine of 1 litre water and 60g salt; cool to room temperature and pour over the jonjoli to cover.
Watch outCool the boiled brine to room temperature before pouring it over — hot brine cooks the buds soft and kills the ferment before it starts.
- 44 min
Add 2 tbsp vinegar per jar, seal, and ferment at room temperature 2 weeks.
Watch outFerment about 2 weeks at room temperature until it smells tangy — pickled too briefly it's raw and grassy, so give it the full time.
- 54 min
Once pickled, drain the jonjoli and dress with 3 tbsp sunflower oil and 1 sliced red onion.
- 63 min
Serve cold as a supra opener, alongside other pkhali and pickles.
