What is Jota?
Jota is one of Croatia’s most popular one-pot dishes. Here are a couple of reasons why. First, it features two of the Croatian pantry's mainstays – beans and sauerkraut. And second, with a touch of smoked meat, jota is a fantastic stick-to-your-ribs dish.
The word jota comes from the Latin jutta, which means 'concoction'. In Istria and Kvarner, it is known as jota, but on the continent, it is simply beans and sauerkraut – grah i kiseli kupus.
This hearty dish came to us from Northern Italy, but only after it had been influenced by Austrian cuisine. A perfect winter elixir, the jota recipe is one of the best examples of the numerous culinary influences that crossed paths on Croatian territory.
Remember, when the choice between sarma and beans becomes too hard, pick jota. Add some smoked meat to the pot, and all the winter flavors of Croatia will begin to sing.
Istrian Jota Ingredients and Preparation
In its essence, jota is a beans and sauerkraut soup. You can make it soupier or denser, but it’s still a dish served in a deep bowl and eaten with a spoon.
Aside from beans and sauerkraut, a fragrant jota needs some veggies and... You guessed it, smoked meat. Choose any type or cut of smoked meat to give jota its bold, seductive aroma. My top picks are sausages, ribs, knuckles, or a block of speck (pancetta).
Bean choices
Most Croatian grah recipes use Borlotti beans. They turn soft and mellow and release enough starch to thicken the dish.
Use dry Borlotti beans and soak them overnight. This gives them a perfect texture. Plus, your jota gets a kick from the beans stock, too.
Dry beans ready to soak
Beans after overnight soak
My Mum always says that beans that rattle as you pour them into a dish are no good. These are often canned beans. So, make an experiment.
Drain canned beans and cooked beans that you soaked overnight. Add both types into an empty dish. Which ones rattle? The canned ones.
So what’s the lesson? Always make a jota recipe with dry beans that need soaking from the night before.
The importance of perfect sauerkraut
The whole world agrees that Sauerkraut is a superfood. Our humble winter staple finally enjoys the spotlight it deserves. But there are sauerkrauts and sauerkrauts.
Let me explain. If you’ve ever fermented sauerkraut at home, you know that it keeps changing its flavor. Sauerkraut is a living culture. Left too long at room temperature, it turns more and more acidic.
When we make sauerkraut at home, we store it in a cool place after it’s reached the flavor we like. But even so, the fermentation continues.
If you use home-fermented sauerkraut for Istrian Jota, you best do a taste test before adding it to the dish. If it’s too sour, just run it under the water to wash off some flavor intensity.
Home-fermented sauerkraut, chopped roughly just as I like it.
Store-bought sauerkraut always tastes the same. Once fermented, acidity regulators are added to keep the flavor balanced. This also keeps the sauerkraut from spoiling. It’s a modern-day payoff. You get a balanced taste with fewer good bacteria, but your cabbage can last you all year round.
My choice? I go for the home-fermented sauerkraut. Fortunately, my Mum still does it in the old-school style.
Serving Suggestions and Pairings
Whenever you want to cook jota, plan to have many hungry mouths. This dish is best prepared in a large pot. Don’t worry about the leftovers because the flavors keep developing over the next few days.
Here’s a suggestion. Make jota for your family to eat over 2 or 3 days. Choose a week when you don’t have much time to spend in the kitchen. Once cooked, keep jota in the fridge and enjoy it as an excellent mid-week lunch.
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Ideal accompaniments and side dishes
An ideal one-pot recipe, jota doesn’t need any side dishes. Serve a touch of smoked meat in each bowl. Then, offer a basket of rustic, country-style bread on the table. You won’t hear any complaints about such simplicity.
Wine pairings
If we’re talking Istrian jota, then we should drink Istrian wine with it. Try it with a glass of dry and light-bodied Malvazija. This excellent Istrian white wine is jota’s best friend.
However, if you’re eating the same jota recipe on the continent, a different logic applies. Here, grah i kiseli kupus, or grah i zelje, calls for a gemišt. Have some continental white Graševina and sparkling mineral water ready. Then, mix the two in a glass.
Do the half-and-half ratio so you can allow yourself two glasses. Gemišt or spritzer is not only lovely and refreshing but a great digestive, too.
Let's not forget that jota is one of the best dishes that can cure a hangover. So, if you go overboard, plan jota for your lunch the following day.
Ready to cook Istrian jota? Let’s go.
Step-by-step guide to preparing Istrian Jota
Istrian Jota Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g dry borlotti beans (2 1/8 cups)
- 1-2 tbsp lard/vegetable oil for sautéing
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- 2 medium carrots (chopped)
- 2-3 cloves of garlic (minced)
- 500 g sauerkraut, shredded (1 lb)
- 300 g smoked meat (sausages, ribs or knuckle) (0.6 lb)
- salt, pepper, sweet paprika to taste
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
Instructions
Cook the Beans:
- Soak the beans in about 2.5 l (10 ½ cups) of water overnight or for 4-5 hours.
- The following day, rinse the beans, cover with fresh water and bring to a boil. Strain immediately. Add another round of fresh water, season with a bit of salt (not too much because sauerkraut is salty) and cook for about 1.5 hours or until the beans are tender. Then, save 1 cup of cooked beans with some stock and drain the rest.
Cook the Sauerkraut:
- While the beans are cooking, sauté the onion until golden, then add the carrots and garlic.
- Before adding the sauerkraut, do a taste check. If it's too salty and sour, soak it in water for 5 minutes and rinse. If not, use it as is. Add it to the vegetables and sauté for 5-10 minutes.
- Put the meat in the pot too. Cover everything with water. Season with pepper, sweet paprika and bay leaves.
Finish the Jota:
- Cook for 45-60 minutes on medium-low heat with the lid on. The exact time will depend on how tender you want the sauerkraut to be. Finally, add the drained beans and stir.
- Blend the saved beans and water into a smooth paste and add tomato paste. Mix it into the pot. This is my favourite way of thickening soups without using flour.
- Stir and let it come to a gentle boil.
