There are two types of people in life – those who savour the tart taste of a jar of well pickled vegetables and those who will pick through a dish to remove every last piece of pickle they can find.
Chef loves fermented and pickled vegetables and has recently been working on a few new pickling recipes, one of which is pickled gherkins. They look so good that I am even tempted to try them and I am definitely not a fan of pickles!
This recipe will give you an impressively tasty jar of crunchy pickled gherkins that will satisfy even the strongest midnight pickle craving!
Ingredients -
Large 1.5ltr or 2ltr pickling jar with lid
1kg baby cucumbers (for best results use fresh gherkin cucumbers with unblemished skins. Organic is best)
60gr non-iodised sea salt
1ltr water
500ml white balsamic vinegar (the vinegar needs to have at least 6% acidity, it can be substituted with white wine or malt vinegar)
150gr sugar
5gr mustard seeds
5gr coriander seeds
5gr peppercorns
5 sprigs fresh dill
1 thinly sliced clove of garlic
1 fresh long red chilli
(Spices detailed here are optional – this will give you a good basic start but other ideas include fennel seeds, star anise, banana shallots – you can create your own combinations according to your tastes)
Method -
Sterilise Jar and lid
Wash the cucumbers and thoroughly coat them in the sea salt. Let stand for 4 hours, turning & mixing every hour.
Drain the salted cucumbers and arrange in the jar. Add the mustard seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorn, fresh dill, garlic and chilli
To make the brine combine the water, vinegar and sugar in a large pot and boil for 5 minutes
Once boiled remove from the heat and pour the hot brine into the jar. Fill to the top to ensure that the cucumber is fully submerged – seal with lid immediately.
Let the jar sit for at least 2 days.
Pickled Gherkins will hold for around 2 months in the unopened jar.
