[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":418},["ShallowReactive",2],{"recipe:jota":3,"recipe:country:slovenia":194},{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"pronunciation":7,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"emoji":10,"summary":11,"intro":12,"story":13,"whyThis":14,"tips":19,"substitutions":26,"variations":39,"serveWith":49,"storage":51,"faq":52,"equipment":68,"baseServings":73,"prepMinutes":74,"cookMinutes":75,"restMinutes":76,"difficulty":77,"course":78,"diet":81,"mainIngredients":82,"ingredients":87,"instructions":142,"nutrition":175,"images":181,"keywords":185,"publishedAt":192,"updatedAt":192,"authorSlug":193},"jota","Jota (Karst Sauerkraut, Bean and Potato Stew)","Jota","YOH-tah","slovenia","Karst and the Slovenian Littoral","🫘","The border stew of the Karst: beans, potatoes and sauerkraut cooked apart, then married in one pot with smoked pork and a garlicky flour roux until thick, sour and unmistakably wintry.","Jota is a thick winter stew from the limestone Karst plateau where Slovenia meets Italy — beans, potatoes and sauerkraut, each cooked separately so none of them bullies the others, then brought together with a piece of smoked pork and a pale garlic roux that binds the whole pot. It tastes sour, smoky and starchy all at once: the sauerkraut supplies the acid, the beans and mashed potato supply the body, and the smoked rib underneath supplies everything else. Nothing about it is refined and nothing about it is quick. It is the sort of stew that is genuinely better on day two, eaten with a spoon, a slab of bread, and no expectations of elegance.","Jota belongs to a border region rather than to a country. The same stew is cooked in Slovenia's Karst and Vipava valley, in Trieste and the Friulian countryside as la jota, and across Istria in Croatia — and each side will tell you, in good faith, that it is theirs. It almost certainly predates all three modern borders: this is the food of a hard, stony limestone landscape where cabbage and turnips could be soured for winter, beans could be dried, and a pig killed in November had to feed a household until spring. The name has been linked to the Latin iuta or iutta, an old word for broth or pottage, but the etymology is argued over and no explanation has settled the matter.\n\nThe one real dispute worth knowing is what makes it sour. In much of the Karst and in the older Slovene tradition, jota was made with kisla repa — soured shredded turnip — rather than sauerkraut, and plenty of cooks around Sežana and Divača still insist that turnip is the proper version and sauerkraut the townsfolk's shortcut. In Trieste, sauerkraut, called capuzi garbi in dialect, is standard. Both are correct depending on which kitchen you are standing in, and shops in the region sell the two side by side.\n\nWhat everyone agrees on is the method, which is the reason the stew tastes the way it does. Beans, potatoes and sauerkraut are cooked in three separate pans, because beans cooked in acid stay stubbornly hard, potatoes cooked with sauerkraut refuse to break down, and sauerkraut cooked with beans turns grey and flabby. Only when each is done in its own way do they go into one pot with the smoked meat and the roux. That roux — flour browned in fat with a great deal of garlic, called prežganje in Slovene — is stirred in at the end and takes the stew from a soup to something a spoon stands up in.",[15,16,17,18],"Keeps the three-pan method that makes the difference: beans, potatoes and sauerkraut each cooked in the conditions they actually need.","A garlic roux stirred in at the end thickens the stew without flour lumps and without twenty minutes of extra reduction.","Mashing part of the potato into the pot gives body naturally, so the roux stays light rather than pasty.","Explains the turnip-versus-sauerkraut argument honestly and gives you the ratios for either one.",[20,21,22,23,24,25],"Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water. Unsoaked dried beans need more than twice the cooking time and split their skins before the insides go creamy.","Salt the beans only once they are tender. Salt added early keeps the skins tight, and acidic sauerkraut liquid does the same — which is exactly why they cook in separate pans.","Taste the sauerkraut raw. If it is very sharp, rinse it once and squeeze it dry; if it is mild, cook it in a little of its own brine to keep the character.","Do not let the roux go dark. You want the pale sandy blond of toasted flour that smells nutty — a brown roux drags the whole stew towards gravy and dulls the acid.","Mash roughly a third of the potatoes against the side of the pot before the roux goes in, so the stew thickens from the inside as well as the outside.","Make it the day before serving. Jota is one of the few stews where an overnight rest is not a suggestion — the sourness and the smoke fully merge only after it cools.",[27,31,35],{"original":28,"swap":29,"note":30},"Sauerkraut","Soured turnip (kisla repa), same weight","The older Karst version. Turnip is sharper and more earthy than cabbage and takes about ten minutes longer to soften, so give it a head start in its pan.",{"original":32,"swap":33,"note":34},"Smoked pork ribs","A smoked ham hock, a piece of smoked pancetta, or a good smoked sausage added in the last 20 minutes","Any well-smoked pork will carry the stew. Avoid heavily sugared supermarket bacon, which turns the broth sweet against the sauerkraut.",{"original":36,"swap":37,"note":38},"Dried borlotti beans","2 x 400 g tins of borlotti or cranberry beans, drained","Skips the soak and about 70 minutes. Add them with their can liquid rinsed off, at the same time as the potatoes go in, and be prepared for slightly less body since you lose the starchy bean cooking water.",[40,43,46],{"name":41,"description":42},"Jota with soured turnip","The Karst original, made with kisla repa instead of sauerkraut. Sharper, more mineral, and a shade less sweet — many older cooks in the Vipava valley consider this the only real jota.",{"name":44,"description":45},"La jota triestina","The Trieste version, essentially the same pot with a little more pancetta, sometimes a spoonful of tomato, and often a pinch of cumin seed in the roux.",{"name":47,"description":48},"Meat-free jota","Made in Karst households through Lent: no pork, a spoonful of good olive oil instead of lard, and a bay leaf and extra garlic in the roux to fill the gap. Thinner but still recognisably jota.",[50],"Thick slices of coarse country bread and a glass of Teran, the dark, high-acid Karst red that is drunk with this stew almost by reflex.","Jota keeps 4 to 5 days in the fridge and is expected to be reheated — most Karst households cook a pot on Sunday and eat it through the week. It thickens considerably as it cools, so loosen it with hot water when you reheat and bring it just to a simmer, stirring, so the roux does not catch on the base. It freezes well for 3 months. Freeze it slightly looser than you want it, since the potatoes break down further on thawing and tighten the stew.",[53,56,59,62,65],{"question":54,"answer":55},"Why cook the beans, potatoes and sauerkraut separately?","Because acid stops beans from softening. Dried beans simmered in sauerkraut liquid can cook for hours and still have chalky centres, while potatoes cooked in the same acid stay firm instead of breaking down to thicken the stew. Cooking each in its own pan lets the beans go creamy, the potatoes go floury and the sauerkraut stay tangy — then they meet at the end.",{"question":57,"answer":58},"Is jota Slovenian, Italian or Croatian?","All three have a genuine claim. The stew comes from the Karst and Littoral region that spans the modern Slovenian-Italian border and continues into Istria, and versions are cooked in Slovene, Triestine and Istrian kitchens with only small differences. There is no settled verdict on where it started, and the local answer usually depends on which side of the border you ask.",{"question":60,"answer":61},"What can I use instead of soured turnip?","Ordinary sauerkraut, weight for weight. Soured turnip, or kisla repa, is the older Karst choice and is shredded white turnip fermented in brine like sauerkraut, but it is hard to find outside Slovenia, Austria and northern Italy. Sauerkraut gives a slightly sweeter, softer stew that is still entirely legitimate — it is the standard version in Trieste.",{"question":63,"answer":64},"My roux went lumpy in the stew. What went wrong?","Hot roux hitting hot stew all at once will seize into lumps. The fix is to slacken the roux first: ladle a cup of the hot stew liquid into the roux pan off the heat and whisk it smooth, then pour that thin mixture back into the pot while stirring. If lumps have already formed, a few seconds with a stick blender at the edge of the pot will break them up.",{"question":66,"answer":67},"Can I make jota in a pressure cooker?","Yes, for the beans. Soaked borlotti take about 12 minutes at pressure with the smoked pork, which saves the better part of an hour. Do not pressure cook the whole stew together, though — the sauerkraut turns mushy and grey, and the potatoes collapse completely instead of holding some shape.",[69,70,71,72],"Large heavy pot","Two medium saucepans","Small frying pan for the roux","Potato masher or a sturdy spoon",6,25,110,480,"easy",[79,80],"soup","main",[],[83,84,85,86],"sauerkraut","potato","smoked-pork","garlic",[88,93,96,101,105,109,115,120,123,127,131,137,139],{"qty":89,"unit":90,"name":91,"group":92},250,"g","dried borlotti or cranberry beans, soaked overnight","Beans",{"ref":85,"qty":94,"unit":90,"name":95,"group":92},400,"smoked pork ribs or a smoked hock",{"ref":97,"qty":98,"unit":99,"name":100,"group":92},"bay-leaf",2,"piece","bay leaves",{"ref":84,"qty":102,"unit":90,"name":103,"group":104},600,"floury potatoes, peeled and cut into 3 cm chunks","Potatoes",{"ref":83,"qty":106,"unit":90,"name":107,"note":108,"group":28},450,"sauerkraut, drained","or soured turnip (kisla repa) — see substitutions",{"ref":110,"qty":111,"unit":112,"name":113,"optional":114,"group":28},"caraway",0.5,"tsp","caraway or cumin seed",true,{"qty":116,"unit":117,"name":118,"group":119},3,"tbsp","lard or olive oil","Garlic roux",{"ref":121,"qty":98,"unit":117,"name":122,"group":119},"flour","plain flour",{"ref":86,"qty":124,"unit":125,"name":126,"group":119},5,"clove","garlic, finely chopped",{"ref":128,"qty":129,"unit":112,"name":130,"optional":114,"group":119},"paprika",1,"sweet paprika",{"ref":132,"qty":133,"unit":134,"name":135,"group":136},"black-pepper",null,"to taste","freshly ground black pepper","To finish",{"qty":133,"unit":134,"name":138,"group":136},"salt",{"ref":140,"qty":98,"unit":117,"name":141,"optional":114,"group":136},"parsley","flat-leaf parsley, chopped",[143,147,152,156,161,165,169,172],{"title":144,"text":145,"timerSeconds":146},"Soak the beans","Cover the dried beans with at least three times their volume of cold water and leave them overnight, or for a minimum of 8 hours. They are properly soaked when a bean splits cleanly under thumbnail pressure with no hard white core in the middle.",28800,{"title":148,"text":149,"timerSeconds":150,"tip":151},"Cook the beans with the smoked pork","Drain the beans, put them in a large pot with the smoked ribs, the bay leaves and 2 litres of cold unsalted water. Bring to a simmer, skim the grey foam off the top, then cook covered for 60 to 75 minutes until the beans crush easily against the roof of your mouth. Salt only now.",4200,"Keep the bean cooking liquid — its starch is what gives jota its texture. Never pour it away.",{"title":153,"text":154,"timerSeconds":155},"Boil the potatoes separately","While the beans cook, simmer {qty:potato} of potato chunks in a second pan of salted water for about 18 minutes, until a knife slides in with no resistance and the outer edges look slightly fuzzy. Drain, reserving a cup of the water.",1080,{"title":157,"text":158,"timerSeconds":159,"tip":160},"Cook the sauerkraut on its own","In a third pan, cover the drained sauerkraut with 300 ml of water, add the caraway if using, and simmer uncovered for 25 minutes until it has lost its raw bite and the liquid has reduced by half. Taste it — it should read as pleasantly sour, not vinegary.",1500,"If your sauerkraut is very sharp, rinse it under cold water and squeeze it dry before this step.",{"title":162,"text":163,"timerSeconds":164},"Bring the three together","Lift out the pork, strip the meat off the bones and return it to the bean pot in bite-sized pieces. Tip in the sauerkraut with its liquid and the potatoes. Mash about a third of the potatoes against the side of the pot, then let everything simmer together for 15 minutes so the flavours merge.",900,{"title":166,"text":167,"tip":168},"Make the garlic roux","Heat the lard in a small pan, stir in the flour and cook over medium-low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until it turns pale sandy blond and smells like toasted bread. Add the chopped garlic and the paprika, swirl for 20 seconds until the garlic is fragrant but not coloured, then pull the pan off the heat.","Garlic burns in seconds at this temperature and turns the whole roux bitter. Count the twenty seconds out loud if you have to.",{"title":170,"text":171,"timerSeconds":102},"Slacken the roux and thicken the stew","Ladle a cup of hot stew liquid into the roux pan and whisk until completely smooth, then pour that mixture back into the pot, stirring as it goes in. Simmer for 10 minutes more, stirring often, until the stew is thick enough that a spoon dragged across the bottom leaves a track.",{"title":173,"text":174},"Season and rest","Season generously with black pepper and correct the salt — the smoked pork means it may need almost none. Scatter with parsley if you like. Serve very hot with dark bread, or, better, cool it and reheat it the next day when the sourness and smoke have settled into each other.",{"calories":76,"protein":176,"carbs":177,"fat":178,"fiber":179,"sodium":180,"estimated":114},26,48,20,12,1100,[182],{"src":183,"alt":184},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fjota\u002Fhero.svg","Thick bowl of jota stew with borlotti beans, sauerkraut, potato and shredded smoked pork",[4,186,187,188,189,190,191],"sauerkraut stew","karst","slovenian bean stew","smoked pork","winter stew","trieste","2026-08-21","dishroute-kitchen",{"items":195,"total":202,"page":129,"limit":416,"hasMore":417},[196,223,252,276,300,307,329,354,375,397],{"slug":197,"title":198,"nativeName":199,"countrySlug":8,"region":200,"baseServings":201,"prepMinutes":202,"cookMinutes":203,"difficulty":77,"course":204,"diet":206,"mainIngredients":209,"images":212,"keywords":216,"publishedAt":192,"updatedAt":192,"authorSlug":193},"ajdovi-zganci","Ajdovi Žganci (Buckwheat Spoonbread with Cracklings)","Ajdovi žganci","Gorenjska and the Alpine north",4,10,35,[205],"side",[207,208],"gluten-free","dairy-free",[210,211],"buckwheat","pork-belly",[213],{"src":214,"alt":215},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fajdovi-zganci\u002Fhero.svg","Bowl of crumbly dark buckwheat žganci topped with golden pork cracklings and their fat",[217,210,218,219,220,221,222],"ajdovi zganci","slovenian side dish","ocvirki","cracklings","zganci","buckwheat spoonbread",{"slug":224,"title":225,"nativeName":226,"countrySlug":8,"region":227,"baseServings":228,"prepMinutes":229,"cookMinutes":203,"restMinutes":230,"difficulty":231,"course":232,"diet":234,"mainIngredients":236,"images":240,"keywords":244,"publishedAt":192,"updatedAt":192,"authorSlug":193},"belokranjska-povitica","Belokranjska Povitica (Flat Layered Curd Flatbread)","Belokranjska povitica","Bela Krajina",8,45,40,"medium",[233],"bread",[235],"vegetarian",[121,237,238,239],"quark","sour-cream","eggs",[241],{"src":242,"alt":243},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fbelokranjska-povitica\u002Fhero.svg","Round flat povitica cut into wedges, showing thin dough ribbons coiled through a pale curd filling",[245,246,247,248,249,250,251],"belokranjska povitica","slovenian flatbread","bela krajina","skuta","curd bread","stretched dough","savoury pastry",{"slug":253,"title":254,"nativeName":255,"countrySlug":8,"region":256,"baseServings":73,"prepMinutes":178,"cookMinutes":257,"difficulty":231,"course":258,"diet":259,"mainIngredients":260,"images":264,"keywords":268,"publishedAt":192,"updatedAt":192,"authorSlug":193},"bujta-repa","Bujta Repa (Prekmurje Sour Turnip and Pork Stew)","Bujta repa","Prekmurje",95,[80],[],[261,262,86,128,263],"pork-shoulder","millet","bacon",[265],{"src":266,"alt":267},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fbujta-repa\u002Fhero.svg","Deep bowl of bujta repa, thick sour turnip stew with chunks of pork and millet, dusted with paprika",[269,270,271,272,273,274,275],"bujta repa","sour turnip stew","prekmurje","slovenian pork stew","kisla repa","millet stew","koline",{"slug":277,"title":278,"nativeName":279,"countrySlug":8,"region":280,"baseServings":201,"prepMinutes":281,"cookMinutes":74,"restMinutes":282,"difficulty":283,"course":284,"diet":285,"mainIngredients":286,"images":288,"keywords":292,"publishedAt":192,"updatedAt":192,"authorSlug":193},"idrijski-zlikrofi","Idrijski Žlikrofi (Pinched Potato Dumplings from Idrija)","Idrijski žlikrofi","Idrija, western Slovenia",60,30,"hard",[80],[],[84,263,287,121],"marjoram",[289],{"src":290,"alt":291},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fidrijski-zlikrofi\u002Fhero.svg","Small hat-shaped Idrija potato dumplings piled in a bowl with toasted breadcrumbs, butter and pork cracklings",[293,294,295,296,297,298,299],"idrijski žlikrofi","zlikrofi","slovenian dumplings","potato dumplings","idrija","bakalca","traditional speciality guaranteed",{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"baseServings":73,"prepMinutes":74,"cookMinutes":75,"restMinutes":76,"difficulty":77,"course":301,"diet":302,"mainIngredients":303,"images":304,"keywords":306,"publishedAt":192,"updatedAt":192,"authorSlug":193},[79,80],[],[83,84,85,86],[305],{"src":183,"alt":184},[4,186,187,188,189,190,191],{"slug":308,"title":309,"nativeName":310,"countrySlug":8,"region":311,"baseServings":201,"prepMinutes":312,"cookMinutes":313,"difficulty":77,"course":314,"diet":315,"mainIngredients":316,"images":318,"keywords":322,"publishedAt":192,"updatedAt":192,"authorSlug":193},"kranjska-klobasa","Kranjska Klobasa (Carniolan Sausage with Sour Turnip)","Kranjska klobasa s kislo repo","Carniola (Gorenjska and central Slovenia)",15,50,[80],[208],[317,83,110,86],"kielbasa",[319],{"src":320,"alt":321},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fkranjska-klobasa\u002Fhero.svg","Plump poached Carniolan sausage on a plate with braised sour turnip, hot mustard and grated horseradish",[323,324,325,326,273,327,328],"kranjska klobasa","carniolan sausage","slovenian sausage","sour turnip","horseradish","protected geographical indication",{"slug":330,"title":331,"nativeName":332,"countrySlug":8,"region":333,"baseServings":179,"prepMinutes":313,"cookMinutes":334,"restMinutes":335,"difficulty":283,"course":336,"diet":338,"mainIngredients":339,"images":343,"keywords":347,"publishedAt":192,"updatedAt":192,"authorSlug":193},"potica","Potica (Slovenian Rolled Walnut Yeast Cake)","Orehova potica","Nationwide, with regional fillings",55,150,[337],"dessert",[235],[121,340,341,342],"walnuts","honey","butter",[344],{"src":345,"alt":346},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fpotica\u002Fhero.svg","Ring-shaped potica cut open to show tight dark walnut spirals inside pale yeast dough",[330,348,349,350,351,352,353],"walnut roll","slovenian cake","yeast dough","povitica","christmas baking","potičnik",{"slug":355,"title":356,"nativeName":357,"countrySlug":8,"region":256,"baseServings":179,"prepMinutes":281,"cookMinutes":358,"restMinutes":359,"difficulty":283,"course":360,"diet":361,"mainIngredients":362,"images":365,"keywords":369,"publishedAt":192,"updatedAt":192,"authorSlug":193},"prekmurska-gibanica","Prekmurska Gibanica (Layered Poppy, Walnut, Apple and Curd Cake)","Prekmurska gibanica",70,240,[337],[235],[363,340,364,237],"phyllo-dough","apple",[366],{"src":367,"alt":368},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fprekmurska-gibanica\u002Fhero.svg","Wedge of prekmurska gibanica showing dark poppy, brown walnut, apple and white curd layers between pastry",[370,349,371,372,373,271,374],"prekmurska gibanica","poppy seed","walnut","layered pastry","festive dessert",{"slug":376,"title":377,"nativeName":378,"countrySlug":8,"region":379,"baseServings":73,"prepMinutes":74,"cookMinutes":380,"restMinutes":76,"difficulty":77,"course":381,"diet":382,"mainIngredients":383,"images":387,"keywords":391,"publishedAt":192,"updatedAt":192,"authorSlug":193},"ricet","Ričet (Slovenian Barley and Bean Pot)","Ričet","Nationwide, strongest in the Alpine north",100,[79,80],[],[384,85,385,84,386],"pearl-barley","carrot","celeriac",[388],{"src":389,"alt":390},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fricet\u002Fhero.svg","Deep bowl of ričet, thick pearl barley and bean pottage with carrot, potato and shredded smoked pork",[376,392,393,394,395,189,396],"ričet","barley stew","slovenian soup","pearl barley and beans","ritschert",{"slug":398,"title":399,"nativeName":400,"countrySlug":8,"region":401,"baseServings":201,"prepMinutes":229,"cookMinutes":230,"restMinutes":282,"difficulty":231,"course":402,"diet":403,"mainIngredients":404,"images":406,"keywords":410,"publishedAt":192,"updatedAt":192,"authorSlug":193},"slovenian-struklji","Štruklji s Skuto (Slovenian Rolled Curd Dumpling with Tarragon)","Skutni štruklji s pehtranom","Central Slovenia and Gorenjska",[80],[235],[237,121,405,238],"tarragon",[407],{"src":408,"alt":409},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fslovenian-struklji\u002Fhero.svg","Sliced Slovenian štruklji showing pale spirals of dough and white curd filling under toasted buttered breadcrumbs",[411,412,248,413,405,414,415],"štruklji","struklji","curd dumpling","slovenian dumpling","rolled dumpling",24,false,1787360069143]