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3½ pounds peppers, stemmed and seeded

1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon salt

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1. Process the peppers in a food processor until evenly chopped to a salsa-like consistency. Sprinkle in the salt. The chopped peppers will become juicy immediately.

2. Pack the mash into a half-gallon jar, pressing out any air pockets as you go. Leave about 1 inch of headspace. You should see some brine above the pepper pulp. Screw the lid down tightly.

3. Set the jar aside to ferment, out of direct sunlight, for anywhere from 14 days to many months. You may want to set it on a plate during the first 2 weeks to catch any escaping brine while the ferment is at its most active. For the first week or two, check daily to make sure that the mash is submerged in the brine (see Curing Notes, page 32).

4. Start tasting the ferment on day 14. It's ready when it has an acidic vinegar-like quality. The color of the peppers tends to stay vibrant, so you may not see as much color shift as you would in other ferments.

5. Store this ferment in the refrigerator, where it will keep for 2 years or more.

Variation

Dry Chile Powder Mash

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1 tablespoon powdered chiles for every ¾ to 1 pound bell peppers

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1. Substitute bell peppers for 3 ½ pounds peppers for basic to-to mash recipe.

2. Add powdered chiles to peppers in the food processing step.

3. Complete recipe as written.