Politiki salata
A Greek salad named after Poli — the City, as Greeks still call Constantinople. It sits between a slaw and a pickle: the vegetables are salted, squeezed and covered in a vinegar brine for two days. A few slices of beetroot go in purely for colour — the whole cabbage turns vivid pink. The result is a slaw as crisp as fresh but with the flavour of a pickle.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Cutting 25 min
- Salting 60 min
- Brine 15 min
- Marinating 2880 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneShred the cabbage very finely
Shred the cabbage into 2 mm strips, ideally on a mandoline. Thick strips will not take up the brine in two days and stay tough, while thin ones soften evenly and keep their crunch.
Ingredients: 1000 g white cabbage · 3 pcs carrots · 200 g celeriac · 1 pcs beetroot · 1 pcs red pepper · 2 tbsp salt
Two millimetres — thicker strips stay tough.Cut the rest into batons
Cut the carrot, celeriac and pepper into matchstick batons. Slice the beetroot thinly and keep it separate — it is a dye rather than an ingredient, and can be lifted out after two days.
Ingredients: 1000 g white cabbage · 3 pcs carrots · 200 g celeriac · 1 pcs beetroot · 1 pcs red pepper · 2 tbsp salt
Salt the cabbage and squeeze it
Toss the cabbage with two tablespoons of salt and leave in a colander for an hour, then squeeze it hard by hand. About a cupful of water comes out — left in the cabbage, it would dilute the brine.
Ingredients: 1000 g white cabbage · 3 pcs carrots · 200 g celeriac · 1 pcs beetroot · 1 pcs red pepper · 2 tbsp salt
Squeezed cabbage — a cupful of water comes out.Boil the brine and cool it
While the cabbage is salting, boil the water with the vinegar, salt, sugar, garlic and spices and cool completely — it will be cold by the time the salting is done. Hot brine would scald the cabbage and the salad would lose the crispness that is its whole point.
Ingredients: 700 ml water · 300 ml wine vinegar · 2 tbsp salt · 2 tbsp sugar · 4 cloves garlic · 1 tbsp peppercorns · 2 pcs bay leaves · 1 tsp coriander seeds
Pack the vegetables tightly in a jar
Layer the vegetables into a jar of about 3 litres (or two smaller ones) with slices of beetroot between them, pressing down, until tightly packed. Pressing drives out air, and air pockets are where mould most easily starts.
Ingredients: 1000 g white cabbage · 3 pcs carrots · 200 g celeriac · 1 pcs beetroot · 1 pcs red pepper · 2 tbsp salt
Layered and pressed tight — the air must go.Cover with brine and weight it
Pour in the cold brine so it covers the vegetables completely and weigh them down with something heavy — a small plate or a bag of water. Vegetables above the brine discolour and can go mouldy.
Ingredients: 700 ml water · 300 ml wine vinegar · 2 tbsp salt · 2 tbsp sugar · 4 cloves garlic · 1 tbsp peppercorns · 2 pcs bay leaves · 1 tsp coriander seeds
Marinate two days at room temperature
Leave 48 hours at room temperature, then move to the fridge. After two days the cabbage is pink right through, crisp and clearly sour. Drain before serving and dress with olive oil and parsley.
Ingredients: 4 tbsp olive oil · 3 tbsp parsley
Before you start
Beetroot for colour only
One small beetroot turns the whole jar vivid pink within a day. Do not add more — excess beetroot brings an earthy flavour that overwhelms the vinegar and unbalances the salad. The slices can be lifted out after two days.
A month in the fridge
The salad keeps a month in the fridge and only improves for the first fortnight. After that it starts to soften but is still good. It is a great winter slaw for rich meat — in Greece it often comes with roast pork and lamb.
The sugar is not optional
Two tablespoons in the brine do not make the salad sweet — they balance the sharpness of the vinegar and let the vegetables come through. Without sugar the brine is simply sour and everything in it tastes the same.
