Pickled Shallots or Onions

These must have been one of the earliest and, it we think how popular they are today, perhaps the best-loved of all pickles. They are a perfect accompaniment to cold meat and you can’t have a traditional ‘ploughman’s’ of bread and cheese without a pickled onion.

Shallots hold a fuller flavour than onions, but both will give good results. It’s important that, whichever is chosen, they are all the same size.

Shallots or onions can be pickled hot or cold. The hot method will take less time to make and infuse to get the pickled results. Cold pickling, however, will give a crisper finish. I’ll give you both methods to play with; both are very tasty and moreish. I’m also using cider vinegar, as the flavour works very well with the oniony taste, but it is more expensive. White-wine or malt vinegar will both give a good basic flavour.