Jota – Suerkraut, beans and potato stew Istrian Recipe

Jota, pronounced 'yota,' is a very old recipe for a stew made of sauerkraut, dried borlotti beans, potatoes and some kind of pork cuts. It is believed that the word jota derives from Celtic word “jutta” indicating a liquidy soup.

Jota is filling and makes a perfect choice for a comfort food when the first cold starts as it will warm your body and soul. It is really easy to make, healthy, inexpensive, and it has become a staple and much loved dish in Slovenian households. Jota, being also very nutritious, is served in nurseries, schools, care homes for elderly, and family run informal restaurants, as well as being one of the most requested dishes from hikers and skiers in mountainside restaurants.

This hearty stew is incredibly humble and proper peasant food as it was born out of necessity and from what was available. My paternal nona told me that most of the households in the countryside, where she was growing up (a little village called Marezige just a few kilometres from the coastal town Koper), would have a wooden barrel of home made sauerkraut, sacks of potatoes and dried borlotti beans, and if you were lucky enough, a pig or a few pigs that would eventually get slaughtered and provided a very precious meat. The better cuts of pork meat were used for drying and curing and for what was considered a very rare and luxurious roasts while less prestigious cuts were put in soups and stews to enrich the flavour.

This very poor dish comes from the region of Primorska near the Adtriatic Sea and it is considered a quintessentially, one of the most famous Istrian peasant dishes, also enormously popular in Trieste and province of Trieste in Italy.

According to Anna Gosetti della Salda, in her book, Le ricette regionali Italiane, Jota (or Jote) was widely made over the whole region of Friuli (Italy), the area bordering with Slovenia, but towards the end of last century the use of jota was limited almost exclusively to the Valli di Gorto and Pesarina in Carnia.

The use of sauerkraut in all these regions, referred to as kapus in the Istrian dialect, is a testimony to how strongly the Austro-Hungarian Empire influenced the dishes in these areas.

Like with most dishes in the culinary world, it is no surprise that there are some variations in the recipe for Jota as well. The most common variation of Jota is without potatoes, and instead, a bit of flour is used to thicken the soup, and another common variation is making jota using sour turnip (called kisla repa in Slovenian).

In some variations, also used by both my mother and my nona, besides the use of different pork cuts, pešto or taca (smooth paste made with pancetta, crushed garlic and fresh, very finely chopped parsley) would be used. This was done, once again, to boost the flavour of the dish.

In some parts of Slovenia that are geographically closer to Hungary, a small quantity of powdered smoked sweet Hungarian paprika will be added to jota.

Before serving this sauerkraut stew, different cuts of pork, that have been cooked in jota, are removed from the bone, sometimes shredded and then returned and mixed into a soup. It is also very common to remove the meats from the soup and serve it later as a separate course.

Different cuts of pork can be used to enrich the flavour of this stew, but it is equally delicious without the meaty element and so it makes a lovely vegetarian and vegan meal.

My nona also “jokingly” shared with me, that to make a really good jota you need three days. The first day for soaking the beans, the second day for cooking Jota and the third for eating it, and enjoying it after it has rested, and all the flavours had a chance to fully develop. It is up to you whether you want to follow my nona three day rule.

I do, no wonder it turns out delicious...

Here I am sharing my family recipe for jota.

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

  • 300g dry borlotti beans, soaked overnight or least for 4 hours

  • 650g -1kg sauerkraut, drained and rinsed

    (I am giving you an approximate amount of sauerkraut to be used in this recipe as it can be flexible. The amount you use will depend on what you can find in your local food store. Sauerkraut is normally sold in either glass jars or sometimes in sealed plastic bags and they will indicate on the label both total net weight (with the liquid) and drained weight, and the latter is the weight you need to look for.

  • For this recipe I bought a glass jar of sauerkraut with total weight of 680g and 650g drained weight which is the amount of sauerkraut I used for the soup).

  • 2 bay leaves, fresh or dry

  • 500g or more, pork ribs (can use ham hocks or similar)

  • 100-200g g smoked bacon lardons (can use smoked cubed pancetta, a slab of bacon or pancetta, chopped strips of smoked bacon or similar)

    (The use of combination of smoked and unsmoked meat element is quite important, as it really gives that traditional and typical Jota flavour, but it is also very flexible. You can, if you prefer, only use unsmoked meats or all smoked for a deeper smoky flavour. Traditionally a bone or outer rind of dry cured ham would be used in order not to waist anything, and it is also packed full of flavour.

  • few black peppercorns, 4-6

  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

  • 3 fairly big potatoes about 600-800g, peeled and cubed

  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

  • 2 tbsp tomato paste (optional)

  • sea salt

Method

There are three simple stages to make jota.

Stage 1

Drain previously soaked beans in a colander, rinse with cold running water and drain again.

Transfer the beans to a very big pot (5 litre at least, where jota will be cooked), add the meats, bay leaf and 5 litre of cold water. Bring to boil over high heat, turn the heat down to a medium low and cook the beans, partially covered with the lid for about 1 hour until the beans are just soft. Skim any foam that rises to the surface, you might have to repeat this process few times.

Do not add sea salt at this point as this will make the skin of the beans hard causing them to crack during the cooking.

Stage 2

Place the sauerkraut in a colander and drain, rinse briefly but thoroughly with cold running water and drain again.

Transfer the sauerkraut in a pan, add a pinch of salt, peppercorns, crashed garlic, bay leaf, olive oil and cold water just enough to cover the sauerkraut.

Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook for about 30 minutes. After this time, transfer the sauerkraut to a big bean pot.

Stage 3

Peel, wash, cube the potatoes and place them in pan. Cover completely with water, bring to boil, turn the heat down and cook for about 30 minutes until the potatoes are soft when pierced with the tip of a knife.

Drain the potatoes in a colander or with the slotted spoon transfer the potatoes to a large plate or bowl. With the back of the fork coarsely mash half of the potatoes and leave the other half cubed.

Transfer coarsely mashed and cubed potatoes in a big pot with beans.

Partially cover with a lid the big pot with beans, sauerkraut and potatoes and continue cooking on a gentle heat for another hour. All three elements will mix and blend together and the soup will start thickening. Taste and adjust seasoning with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

The soup should be quite thick but still have enough liquid to be able to ladle it nicely on the plate.

If jota gets too thick just add a bit of water to dilute it.

When jota is cooked, depending on what type of meats you use, take the meat of the bones, discard skin and bones and transfer pieces of shredded meat to the soup if you wish.

Discard the bay leaves before serving jota hot with a nice piece of crunchy bread.

Just a thought

Jota will keep well in a fridge for few days and is suitable for freezing.

If jota gets too thick, simply dilute it adding a bit of water, bring to boil and serve hot.

Wine suggestion

Venezia Giulia Pinot GrigioIGT 2019 – Azienda Agricola Pierpaolo Pecorari