Home › The Principles of Cookery › Pickles, Mixed

Pickles, Mixed

Begin making this pickle about the middle of May. Take a large earthen jar which will hold two gallons. Put into it a gallon of the best brown vinegar, and add four ounces of bruised ginger and four ounces of mustard-seed. Put into a bowl a quarter of a pound of salt, one ounce of ground black pepper, a quarter of an ounce of cayenne, two blades of mace finely powdered, a quarter of a pound of unmixed mustard, and two ounces of curry-powder. Make these ingredients into a paste by mixing them smoothly with a little cold vinegar, add them to the vinegar in the jar, and mix thoroughly. Cover the jar very closely, keep it in a warm place, and stir it with a wooden spoon every day for a month. Gather different vegetables as they come into season, prepare them as for piccalilli (see PICCALILLI), see that they are perfectly dry, and put them into the pickle. When no further additions are to be made, put the pickle into earthen jars, cover closely, tie down with moistened bladder, and store in a dry place. As the vegetables absorb the liquid, add fresh vinegar, and stir the pickle with a wooden spoon. Before it is used this pickle must be kept twelve months from the time when it began to be made.