Trieste and the Carso (Karst) plateau — jota is documented from the medieval period in the region straddling modern Trieste, the Slovenian coast, and the Istrian peninsula. The preparation is shared between Italian, Slovenian, and Croatian traditions of the northern Adriatic littoral.
Jota is the ancient winter soup of Trieste and the Karst plateau — a dense, sour, intensely flavoured soup of borlotti beans, sauerkraut (crauti), and pork (smoked ribs, cotenna, or lard), heavily seasoned and simmered for hours until the ingredients have almost merged into a thick, dark mass. The sourness of the sauerkraut is the defining element — jota without significant acidity is not jota. In Trieste, jota is the quintessential cucina povera preparation: cheap, warming, nourishing, and deeply flavoured from the long simmer of pork and fermented cabbage. It is a winter dish that should be made in large quantities and reheated — it improves over 3-4 days.
Jota in the bowl is dark, opaque, and thick — the sauerkraut's sourness pervades the entire soup; the beans provide body and creaminess; the pork fat enriches every mouthful. It is a soup of strong flavours, not for timid palates. Reheated on the third day, with the sourness mellowed and the flavours fully integrated, it reaches its peak. A drizzle of raw olive oil at the table is the finishing touch.
Soak borlotti beans overnight; cook with a smoked pork rib or cotenna until tender. In a separate pot, rinse sauerkraut (rinsing moderates the sourness — adjust to taste) and simmer with smoked lard or guanciale and bay leaves for 30 minutes. Combine beans (with their liquid), sauerkraut, and pork in a large pot. Mash or purée a third of the beans to thicken the broth. Continue simmering 45-60 minutes. Make a garlic-flour soffritto (roast a head of garlic in lard, add flour, cook dark, add to soup — this is the 'pisto' that thickens and flavours jota). Season; finish with raw olive oil or lard.
The ratio of sauerkraut to beans varies by household — some jota are predominantly sauerkraut with beans as accent; others are predominantly bean soup with sauerkraut as the acid note. Both are authentic. The pisto (thinly sliced garlic browned in lard until golden, then flour added and cooked to a dark roux, then ladled into the soup) is the technique that unifies jota with the German tradition of einbrenn (roux thickening).
Not rinsing the sauerkraut — commercial sauerkraut is very sour and salty; some rinsing is necessary unless using homemade krauti which is milder. Omitting the pisto (garlic-flour roux) — the pisto is the characteristic thickening of jota; soup without it is thinner and less complex. Short cooking — jota needs 2+ hours for the flavours to fully integrate.
Slow Food Editore, Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Cucina; Anna Gosetti della Salda, Le Ricette Regionali Italiane