Pickles

Many vegetables and fruit can be preserved in vinegar with spices. Fruit is usually sweetened as well to produce delicious and unusual pickles to eat with meat, poultry and fish. Use good vegetables and fruit of high quality and remove all blemishes, avoiding any fruit which is soft and slushy. Make up spiced vinegar well ahead of pickling if possible so that it develops a full flavour. If vegetables have to be soaked in brine before further preparation, be sure to allow plenty of time for this as it usually means the pickling process must be spread over two days.