Piccalilli

An uncooked, cold-packed relish that depends entirely on salt and vinegar rather than heat. The hinge is the draining step: any brine left behind dilutes the vinegar and the jars turn soft and cloudy within days.

• What the quarts meanWhether the vegetables are measured before or after chopping is not stated. Read as chopped measures, a quart of green tomatoes is roughly 1 1/2 lb and a quart of onion something over 1 lb; a "good-sized cabbage" of 3-4 lb as bought gives 3 to 4 quarts chopped.
• The peppers"Peppers" in American relish recipes of this kind normally means sweet green bell peppers, seeded and cored, not chilies; fifteen hot peppers would be overwhelming in this quantity of vegetables. If you want heat, one or two hot peppers among the fifteen is in keeping with the style.
• "Salt well" quantifiedThe recipe gives no measure. A common modern guideline for an overnight draw is about 1/3 cup coarse pickling salt per quart of chopped vegetables, layered through as you pack. Use pickling or kosher salt: iodized table salt can darken the brine and anti-caking agents cloud it.
• Draining is the whole recipeSet the salted vegetables in a colander over a bowl overnight in a cool place, then press hard in a clean cloth or press with a plate and weight. The mixture should feel dry to the hand before it goes into jars.
• Vinegar strengthUse a cider vinegar labelled 5 percent acidity and cover the vegetables completely, leaving nothing exposed above the surface. Cider vinegar sold as "raw" or unfiltered will throw a sediment; it is harmless but the relish will not stay clear.
• StorageBecause nothing here is heated, this is a refrigerator pickle, not a shelf-stable preserve. Keep it covered and cold and use it within a month or so; do not seal the jars and store them in a cupboard.
• Yield and servingThe yield is large: even after the vegetables have shrunk under salt, expect several quarts. It is served in small quantities alongside cold meat, beans, hash or fried fish.
• A note on spiceMany piccalilli recipes add mustard seed, celery seed and turmeric; this one is plain, and with no sugar it reads sharp rather than sweet-sour. A tablespoon each of mustard and celery seed brings it closer to the more familiar version.