With a focus towards wellbeing and gut health,
the food fashion paradigm has shifted toward conscious eating in a big way. Pickling and fermenting is a food trend that grows year on year.
One staple proven and well known to assist with gut health is the process of pickling and fermenting.
Well it just so happens that we love a good pickle and through years in professional kitchens (and a small house) we have mastered a few pickling and fermenting recipes purely as a way of storing food.
Throw into the mix that they are delicious and ridiculously good for our gut, and its winner winner pickled dinner.
As a standard the below ideas are based off a simple pickle liquor. You can add a plethora of spices to this recipe, and adjust the sweet, salt and acid levels to personal taste but this is a good place to start.
Simply put all the ingredients in a pot and dissolve the salt and sugar. Allow any aromatics to infuse and away you go.
Pickling and Fermenting: Simple Pickle Liquor Recipe
- 100ml Good White Wine Vinegar
- 100ml Water
- 100 grams of sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Any aromatics such as bay leaf, peppercorns, coriander seeds, turmeric, anise or even herbs and/or lemon zest
5 Ingredients perfect for Pickling!
Cucumbers
Probably the most known ingredient when it comes to pickling and fermenting, or at least the most eaten across the globe. You know those little green fellas that make your burger better!
Pickled Cucumbers come in all shapes and sizes, crinkle cut, cornichon (the little fellas typically on an antipasto board) and so on.
All of the above are great but one of our favourite ways to pickle Cucumber is to slice it very finely and salt it for 20 mins. Then rinse of the salt and hit with a cider or even kombucha vinegar. Salting the cucumber keeps the crunch and this quick hit with pickle liquor really tarts up the cucumber… Perfect on a salad or served with a piece of fresh grilled fish!
Zucchinis
Zucchinis, not everyone’s go to when it comes to pickling and fermenting but trust us, they are great. They also work really well as a sub for cucumber as they hold less water.
We like to add some spices to our pickle liquor such as turmeric, coriander seed, pepper and bay. This will make the Zucchinis super yellow and give great flavour. We recommend pickling, allowing to stand for 5-6 days and then serving with lamb or fish.
Pineapple
Pickling and fermenting fruit we hear you say? Yes, absolutely we reply.
Pickled Pineapple is to die for, served on a burger, pizza or in a salad with some grilled Chorizo and/or Squid…
Honestly, you’ll be drooling at this godsend.
Pick a slightly under ripe Pineapple, slice thinly and submerge in a classic pickle liquor. Add to this some fresh red chilli slices (mild reds work best).
Allow to ferment for 1-2 days depending on the climate and then fridge. Once chilled serve with the above suggestions.
Onion (Red)
Pickling and fermenting onions has been around forever and for good reason.
However, this is a slightly new approach. Take a pickle liquor and pour over thinly sliced lightly salted red onion. Vacuum pack or pack tightly into a jar and leave out over night at room temp. Then fridge for a week and voila, the most beautiful pink onions ever.
Great with falafel, koftas, lamb and the list goes on.
Cauliflower
Cauliflower is fantastic when it comes to pickling and fermenting. And we have a top tip for you here to make it even more special.
First prep the cauliflower into florets, then blanch in salted water until just cooked. (NOTE Do not overcook as the pickling process will continue to break the Cauliflower down and you don’t want soggy pickles)
Then place the Cauliflower in a large jar. Now here’s the tip, take a slice or two of raw beetroot and place them in the jar also. Pour over your standard pickle liquor and leave standing overnight. Fridge for between 1-4 weeks.
You will be left with the most beautiful pink cauliflower florets!
Do you have a few more favourite ingredients you go to when pickling and fermenting?
If so, tell us about them in the comments below,