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Vinegar, Pickles, and Pickling: Piccalilli

Piccalilli, or Indian Pickle. This consists of a great variety of succulent vegetables (the more varied the better) mixed and pickled together.

To make piccalilli slice 1 hard white cabbage head, remove the outer leaves, pull to pieces 2 cauliflowers, add 20 selected French beans, 1 root of horseradish, sliced fine, 2 dozen pickling onions, 1 dozen green gherkins of uniform size. Let stand in brine three or four days, drain through a colander, and place in a preserving kettle. Add 2 ounces of curry powder, 1 ounce of garlic, 1 ounce of ginger, 1 ounce of white mustard seed, ounce of capsicum or paprika. Cover with vinegar and bring to a boil. Preserve in glasses tightly sealed.

Or pull apart the branches of a large head of cauliflower, cut a hard white cabbage head in quarters, remove the outer leaves, chop it fine or shred it as for cold slaw. Slice a number of cucumbers and pickling onions, French beans, radish pods, nasturtiums, samphire, and any other vegetables at hand. Place these in a large sieve, sprinkle them with salt and lay them out in the sun for three or four days to dry. Now place them in a preserving kettle, cover with cold vinegar, and bring to a boil. Let them boil up once. Pack in glass and seal.

Or if it is desired to make an extra quality, keep all the ingredients separate and scald them separately in hot vinegar, but do not put them together until they are cold. Bruise together in a mortar 4 ounces of ginger, ounces of whole white pepper, 2 ounces of allspice, ounce of chilis, 4 ounces of turmeric. Add pound of shallots, 1 ounce of garlic, pound of bay salt. Cover with 1 gallon of vinegar and boil thirty minutes. Strain through cheese cloth and add 1 pound of mustard rubbed up free from lumps with a small quantity of cold VINEGAR, PICKLES, AND PICKLING vinegar. Then dilute with more vinegar to the consistency of milk and stir into the pickling liquid. When the pickling liquid is cold pour it over the pickles. Mix well and pack in glass bottles or a large jar corked or sealed to exclude the air.

Piccalilli if well prepared should improve with age.