The type of pickle referred to in this section isn’t a chutney or relish, but rather, vegetables suspended in a clear vinegar, with salt somewhere in the equation and almost always a little sugar (to help preserve and also counteract the sourness of the vinegar).
In our household, we seem to be forever in a pickle – literally. While jam-making and the like is primarily reserved for summer months when delicious stone fruits and vegetables abound, pickles can be made all year round with any season’s produce.
Late autumn produce, such as cabbages, cauliflowers, beans and zucchini, is very suitable, and, in winter, there are cabbages, red and green, along with onions and other root vegetables.
Even if you don’t have a vegetable garden of your own, you can buy at very reasonable prices when you work with seasonality.
For my part, I love to see the pantry shelves lined with rows of perfectly prepared pickles. My favourite is pickled onions, so delicious on a cheese platter or even added to a casserole. We had friends here recently for a pizza evening, and they added some sliced pickled onion as a topping, which gave an outstanding flavour. Such is the way of learning from family and friends.
I like the shelves to be groaning with tasty sliced beetroot, too, and zucchini, cucumbers and, this year for the first time, most delicious pickled sugar snap peas. The list is virtually endless, the colours amazing, the flavours even more so.
Personally, I have two basic recipes that work well on every occasion: one applies to onions, the other to vegetables such as zucchini, carrots, turnips, radishes or cucumbers. If you use these recipes as a base, your pickled vegetables should keep for at least a year.
Of course, thousands of recipes exist for pickled vegetables, and you may prefer to use those instead. However, be very sure that shelf life is specified, as this will be matched to the amount of preserving agents used. Not all pickles will keep for months or years.
Once your pickled vegetables are made, don’t leave them as strangers on the pantry shelf. Pull them out and use them in your everyday cooking for a lovely sour note, and especially as part of a cheese or mezze platter. No longer will you need to purchase expensive commercial equivalents – and you may well come to be known for your delicious signature pickles.
There are a few simple tips to ensure that your pickles are good quality and will not spoil.
• Recipes call for brining of the vegetables – sometimes dry salting, other times a strong brine. This allows for the drawing out of some of the vegetables’ natural liquid. That liquid is then drained off. This means the vinegar can more effectively penetrate and preserve.
• Be sure that all equipment is spotlessly clean and that jars are sterilised (see Sterilising Jars and Lids on pages).
• Avoid using homemade vinegar, as the acetic acid levels can be difficult to determine.
• It’s often advised to use best-quality vinegar because of the flavour. However, the vegetables are supposed to be the star of the show, not the vinegar flavour, so I recommend a relatively neutral-tasting white or cider vinegar.
• Never be tempted to cut back on quantities of salt, vinegar and sugar in ratio to vegetables in a recipe, as this can lead to spoilage.
• Always use the entire amount of prepared vinegar solution as produced in the recipe. You may find that once you have filled jars with the vegetables and then covered them with vinegar solution, you have some vinegar solution left over. In this case, remove some of the vegetables from other jars to another empty jar and fill with vinegar until all is used. This is a very important step. Sometimes I’ve had to use a couple of extra jars. Always be sure that the amount of vegetables and vinegar in each jar is very close to, or, even better, exactly the same.
• Fill the jars to the brim with vegetables and vinegar solution.
• Use non-corrosive lids on your jars.
• When the vegetables are first covered with the vinegar, they will tend to float, leaving the top few pieces potentially subject to air contamination. To prevent this happening, you can place a (non-corrosive) skewer in the top of the jar to force them to submerge, or scrunch up a small piece of baking paper and push under the surface. In the case of the latter, be sure there are no air pockets underneath. After two or three weeks, you can remove it, as the vegetables will have absorbed the vinegar by then and should stay under the vinegar solution of their own accord.
Makes approximately 1.5kg
You can omit the capsicum if you like in this recipe, and change the spices. I have also used this recipe for pickled sugar snap peas, which were absolutely delicious.
1kg small to medium zucchini or cucumbers
2 large or 4 small onions, peeled
2 medium red capsicums, cores and seeds removed
½ cup (130g) salt
3½ cups (875ml) vinegar (white or cider)
2 cups (440g) sugar
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes (optional)
Cut the vegetables into 8mm slices. Put in a large bowl with the salt, barely cover with water and stir to combine. Leave to stand for 6 hours.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring often.
Tip the vegetables into a colander to drain well, then add to the boiling vinegar mixture. Bring just back to boiling point, then remove from heat.
Spoon the vegetables into sterilised jars, making sure that the vegetables are completely submerged in the vinegar solution. If needed, to stop them floating, see Tips, above. Leave for about a week, after which the skewer or paper can be removed as the vegetables will have absorbed the vinegar and should stay submerged.
These pickles can be eaten after about a week when the flavours have developed.
Shelf life: 12 months.
Makes approximately 1.5kg
Peeling the onions is the worst feature of this pickle, but the end result is worth it. My husband Robert is the self-appointed peeler here. He has used many methods to prevent the tears and would say that the best solution by far is to sit outside with a brisk breeze blowing past to take the fumes away. However, in bad weather necessitating indoor peeling, he resorts to wearing a large pair of goggles, and that over his spectacles. He looks rather strange, but he sheds not one tear.
Robert prefers a highly spiced vinegar, whereas I don’t like to use too much as it detracts from the flavour of the onions. However, it’s personal choice – add as much as you like: it won’t affect keeping quality as the spices have already been preserved themselves by dehydration.
Brining solution
200g cooking salt
8 cups (2 litres) water (3 cups boiling and 5 cups cold)
2kg pickling onions, peeled
Spiced vinegar
8 cups (2 litres) vinegar
20g allspice berries
20g peppercorns
A few cloves
1 bay leaf
¾ cup (165g) sugar
To make brining solution, combine salt and boiling water and stir until the salt is dissolved, then stir in the cold water. Allow to cool, add onions and weigh down with a plate or similar and set aside for 24 hours.
To make the spiced vinegar, combine vinegar, spices and sugar in a saucepan and bring to just below boiling point. Remove from heat. Cover saucepan with a lid, then leave to infuse for at least 3 hours. Strain through a sieve. Discard spices and set vinegar aside to cool completely.
Drain onions from brining solution, rinse well and pat dry with a paper towel. Pack onions into sterilised jars to within 2.5cm of the top of each jar. As a rule of thumb, a 1 litre jar should contain approximately 650g onions. It’s important to keep the proportions right so that there’s enough vinegar in each jar to preserve the onions effectively.
Pour cooled spiced vinegar over onions, ensuring that onions are completely covered. Fill jars to the top with vinegar, making sure all is used.
If onions float to the surface, place a crumpled piece of baking paper in top of each jar, following the instructions in the Tips, above. After a few days, this can be removed as onions will have absorbed the vinegar and should stay submerged.
Seal immediately and store in a cool, dry and dark place for 2 months before using. Refrigerate after opening.
Shelf life: 12 months.