Cebolletas en vinagre -- Pickled Scallions

 I'm still translating and exploring  Encarnación Pinedo's book, El cocinero español.  

Today I am trying a recipe on page 56:

Cebolletas en vinagre.

Se toman cebolletas tiernas y blancas, se despellejan y se les quita la cabeza. Se ponen en vinagre hasta que la vasija quede llena, cubriendolas con estragón, hinojo y pimienta en grano.

Se salan despues y se cierran hermeticamente hasta el momento de servirlas.

Pickled scallions.

Take the tender white part of scallions, skin them and their heads are taken off. They are put in vinegar until the jar is full, covering with tarragon, fennel and ground pepper.

They are salted afterwards and hermetically closed until the moment to serve them.

Plus the pepper, which didn't make it into the picture

My Redaction

4 or 5 bunches of scallions (green onions)

fennel leaves

tarragon leaves

salt

pepper (Miss Pinedo says ground, I used whole)

white wine vinegar

Wash and trim the scallions. Cut off most of the green part.  In a clean jar, put in some fennel, tarragon, and pepper.  Put the scallions into the jar, put in more fennel, tarragon, and pepper.  Cover with vinegar.  Add salt to taste.  

Close jar and store in the refrigerator for at least a week.  

My Notes

I interpreted the directions to "skin" the scallions and "take their heads off" as "trim off the root ends and take off the outer layer if it was dirty, slimy, or otherwise unappealing".  My store-bought scallions didn't need to be skinned except in a few cases.

I cut them to a length that would fit in my quart canning jar.  That included some of the green part but still with enough of the white to keep it "tender."

I didn't know how much fennel, tarragon, and pepper to use.  I wanted their flavor to infuse the vinegar and scallions but not so much as to overwhelm.  So I decided that putting some below and some above would be helpful.

A few pieces of leaves and about 5 peppercorns below

A greater quantity of leaves and about 5 more peppercorns above.

Then I filled the jar with white wine vinegar, which I chose for its mild flavor and mild acid bite.  I added 1/2 teaspoon of salt on top.

I tried to put the scallions in decoratively!

I noticed everything floated and so the tops of the scallions were out of the vinegar.  So once the jar went into the refrigerator, I shook it at least once a day to get the tips covered.

The store where I purchased the scallions also had an item specifically labeled as cebolletas, so I bought some of them to try, too.

The bulbs were at least 1 inch in diameter and I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to bite into that much onion flavor and eating the whole thing in a sitting, so I decided to cut them into rings and pickle those.

I had fewer cebolletas, so I used a pint canning jar.  I put leaves and peppercorns at the bottom, the middle, and the top.  I didn't adjust the quantity downwards for the smaller jar - I expect the herb flavors to be bolder.  Also, I used apple cider vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  It helped to use a spoon to gently pack the rings down into the jar.

This jar went into the refrigerator, too, to wait out its week.  It was also shaken regularly.

The Verdict

Several weeks went by until we tasted them.  

The cebolletas in apple cider vinegar were crisp, flavorful, and had a mild acid bite.  The fennel was a dominant flavor.  My guest tasters liked the acid level but I wanted it diluted, either with water or sugar.  They made a good relish next to roasted meat and on a charcuterie platter.

The scallions in the white wine vinegar were soggy and the acid bite was too strong for me.  The fennel was still the dominant flavor (not a bad thing).  I think I should have not included as much (or any) of the green stem as we all agreed that it was fibrous and you had to really pay attention to how you were biting it to make sure you could get a piece in your mouth.  This was not good.

The majority opinion was that either vinegar would be fine (I still wanted to dilute both and I liked the apple cider vinegar best), the cebolletas were better than the scallions, and the flavor was good.  I would have liked less fennel so I could taste a better balance with the tarragon and pepper.  

Success, especially for the cebolletas.  I would do this again with the scallions and only use the white part.  I would also put in less fennel, more tarragon, and crack the peppercorns.

UPDATE:  No one really wanted to eat the soggy scallions as they came out of the jar.  However, I found that chopping them into about 1/2 inch long pieces and including them in stews is absolutely wonderful.  They add a depth of flavor that is unexpected and they also make the whole dish smell so enticing.  A bonus!

Pickled Shrimp - The Carolina Housewife

Last year when I went to South Carolina for a week, I came home with several cookbooks.  This is not a surprise as I prefer them as my souvenirs when I travel.  I wrote about one of them shortly after I returned:  see this post on Cheese Pudding.

Another book I found was The Carolina Housewife by Sarah Rutledge.  (ISBN 978-0-87249-383-4)

It was originally published in 1847 (mine is a facsimile).  Ms. Rutledge was a descendent of a signer of the Declaration of Independence and related to another.  She was born and died in Charleston and was educated in England.  The introduction, written in 1979 by a cousin, Anna Wells Rutledge, holds stories of what Charleston was like during Sarah Rutledge's time as well as tidbits of its history over the decades.  I certainly got a feel for what life was like there!

I particularly enjoyed Anna's "translation" of the culinary terms used in the book:  gill as one-half cup, hyson tea as green tea from China, shaddock as grapefruit (although she mentions our modern day grapefruit has been developed beyond what Sarah knew), and "brown it with a salamander" meant to broil under a heated metal plate.  (page xxvi).

Today's recipe is on page 216.

To Pickle Shrimps

Pick your shrimps, and rinse them well in salt and water; take two parts of strong vinegar, and one of water, add a few allspice, and boil this pickle; pour it hot over the shrimps.  If the shrimps are to be sent to a distance, the pickle should be boiled again; adding a little more vinegar, and pouring on the shrimps hot, again.  They must be entirely covered by the pickle; a paper wet with brandy, should be placed over the top.  They will thus keep sound a long time.

My Redaction

2 pounds medium shrimp

1 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup water

6 whole allspice berries

My shrimp were raw and frozen, so I defrosted them, put them in 2 quarts of boiling salted water (1/2 tsp salt), brought it back to a boil, then simmered them for 2 minutes.  The picture above shows them after I drained them and rinsed them with cool water until they stopped steaming.

To "pick" my shrimps, I simply peeled them, removing the tail and any remaining little bits of the vein I found after the shell had come off.

I filled a clean one quart canning jar with water and put it in the microwave on high for five minutes.  (Put a plate under it to catch any water that might boil over.) While that was going on, I put the vinegar, water, and allspice berries in a pan and brought them to a boil.

Then I dumped the water from the jar and filled it with the shrimp.  The two pounds fit in there pretty well; just a few were kept out only because I didn't want to stuff them in.  

I poured the boiling "pickle" over the shrimp until it covered them by at least 1/2 inch.  That used up almost all of the liquid.

Then I put the lid on the jar and let it cool on the counter.

My Notes

I wasn't sure if my vinegar would have qualified as "strong" but I went ahead and mixed it with the water.  

I hoped that 6 allspice berries were enough to give some flavor.  

I was surprised that all the shrimp fit in the one jar.  (Honestly, I had hoped they all didn't so I could try other recipes with them.  That will be for another day.)

The hot vinegar sealed the lid (it popped, as a good canning jar lid should), so I skipped using the paper soaked in brandy idea.

The Verdict

I looked around on the internet for other shrimp pickling recipes.  They tend to contain many more flavors than simply vinegar and allspice but those recipes were for making a complete appetizer that was ready to go on the table out of the jar.  They looked good!  One of them noted that the longer you keep the shrimp in the flavored liquor, the more "pickley" they tasted.  

The jar sat on the counter for four days.  This was tough for me to do because I really, really dislike food poisoning, and I worried the whole time that I was making something that would make me sick.  But I stuck it out.

When the day came to try it, the jar looked just as it did in the picture above, with a little bit of sediment at the bottom.  The liquid had a mild scent and the shrimp was firm, not slimy or bad smelling.  My guest taster and I were both willing to do a taste test.

It tasted of shrimp.  The flavor was lightly vinegary, not enough to overwhelm the delicate shrimp flavor, so I guess the 2 to 1 ratio of vinegar to water was just right.   I couldn't taste the allspice but I couldn't say it didn't have influence.  Probably very minimally.  Perhaps cracking the spices or using more would have been better, but I don't know how much allspice I really wanted to taste.

The goal was to make shrimp last a long time, not make it an intriguing flavor.  I think the recipe accomplished that goal.  We tried it straight out of the jar and then later on top of a tossed green salad.  It was fine!

I can see why this would be a good baseline recipe for making the shrimp more exciting.  The online recipes (mostly from the USA's deep south) include capers, onions, red pepper flakes, apple cider vinegar, Tabasco sauce, lemon slices, and/or various herbs and spices.  

This was an easy recipe to prepare.  The most "challenging" part was peeling all the shrimp, which turned out to be a nice contemplative time at the dining room table.  Everything else was quick and simple.

Even though Ms. Rutledge assures us the shrimp will keep for a long time, after the jar was opened, I kept it in the refrigerator.  

Success!  I'd do it again, especially as an appetizer if I added more flavors.

Pickled Raisins -- A Medieval Syrian Recipe

I am thoroughly enchanted with Scents and Flavors, translated by Charles Perry.

ISBN  978-1-4798-5628-2

The recipes seem so do-able and intriguing, with flavor combinations I would not normally think of using and techniques easily replicated in the modern kitchen.  I previously tried one of its pickled lemon recipes, with great success.  So much so that I continue to keep a jar of it in my refrigerator whenever I can get lemons.  They are an excellent additive to sandwiches as well as a flavorful relish with any sort of cooked meat.  Read my post on it here.

Therefore I was excited to try another recipe.  There are so many I want to try!  I decided to go with another pickled something, and I was inspired to do the pickled raisins after pruning my mint plant.  This recipe, found on page 215, is #8.38 in the section on various types of sour and salty pickles:

The eighth type is raisin pickles, of which there are several kinds

The first kind

Pick over raisins to remove the useless ones, wash the rest, and dry in a sieve.  Take the smallest ones, wash, and pound in a mortar with mint and wine vinegar; when smooth, strain with vinegar several times until nothing is left of the raisins in the sieve.  Take stems of fresh mint and remove the remaining leaves from the stalks.  Put with the raisins into a pickling jar, alternating a layer of raisins and a generous layer of fresh mint until the jar is nearly filled.  Pour in the vinegar that was strained with the raisins.  If too sour, add honey, sugar, or date syrup, according to the disposition of the individual.  Add some mixed spices and ginger, set aside, and use after six or seven days.  If you want, put in petals of Nisibin roses when they are in season.

My Redaction

For the liquid:
52 grams golden raisins
3 grams fresh mint leaves
3/4 cup (6 ounces) white wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoon honey
3/4 teaspoon mixed spices (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, grains of paradise, pepper, saffron)
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

For the pickle:
More raisins
More fresh mint leaves



My Notes

My goal was to fill one pint canning jar.

I did not use rose petals of any kind.

To make the liquid, I started with the raisins and mint leaves and added 1/2 cup vinegar.

I blended the batch until it was finely pureed.  Then I mixed in the spices.  I tasted it and it was lovely!  Sour, slightly sweet, spicy (especially from the ginger), and very minty.  But it was thick and I suspected it was too thick for what the recipe's author intended.

Thick, like a milkshake

So I added another 1/4 cup vinegar and some honey to balance out the sourness.  This made it thinner but not thin, and I decided it would work.

I took the sterilized jar and put in a layer of raisins, tamped it down a little with a pestle, put on a layer of mint leaves and tamped that.  To fill the jar took five layers of raisins with four layers of mint in between, tamping at each layer.

When I poured the liquid over the top, I realized the problem:  it was too thick to work its way down through the layers to the bottom.  So I took a chopstick and poked it into the layers, mostly around the jar's sides, to encourage the liquid to move to the bottom.  It seemed to work, although I'm not sure how well it got into the middle of the jar.  I kept adding liquid until the jar was full.

Once it seemed full, I put the lid on and then tapped the jar a lot.  I hoped it got more liquid down to the bottom.

I still had a lot of liquid left over, so I decided to fill another jar with the raisin pickle.  This time I used dark raisins instead of the golden.  I also decided to pour some liquid over each layer as I was assembling it (after tamping).  This worked well until I ran out of liquid and still needed a little more to finish filling the jar.  So I put together another raisin/mint/vinegar puree (with dark raisins and without measuring), thinned it with a little more vinegar, and added honey and spices (without measuring).  It tasted good and I used it.

That finished the second jar.

You can see where I switched to the dark raisin puree in the top layer.

Both jars were labeled and put into the refrigerator for a week.


The Verdict

The directions, "strain with vinegar several times until nothing is left of the raisins in the sieve" had
me believe that a thick liquid was acceptable, even though most recipes for items that are pickled are in a fairly runny vinegar base.  If nothing was left, then all of the raisin should be reduced to tiny (strainable) bits.  It is why I blended it instead of straining -- I had that modern advantage and it was a way to get the mixture smooth without having to continue to strain several times.

I mixed the spices into the liquid instead of putting them at the top of the jar because it was so thick.  It seemed like they wouldn't have contact with the raisins below the top if just placed on top.

How was it?

I was surprised to see that the whole mass was thick, not liquidy or sloshy at all.  This made sense in that the raisins (dried grapes) soaked up the liquid.  What I spooned onto my plate was moist but firm and not runny.

This was all dark raisins.

The flavor was amazing.  It was spicy, almost too much at first, but I got used to it quickly.  Cinnamon, ginger, pepper, mint, sweet, sour, and more.  It made me think of chutney with the benefit of being quick and easy to assemble, and uncooked.

Initially I was put off by the whole mint leaves.  Sometimes I got a leaf in my mouth and it seemed too strong.  But after a few servings of pickled raisins, I got used to it and enjoyed it.  I think in the future I will cut them before putting them in the jar.  A chiffonade might work well.

I also tasted the mixture that was with golden raisins.  The flavors were the same -- lovely! -- but I believe the golden raisins were more tender than the dark raisins.  They were both excellent.

My guest taster and I both said, "Wow!  This is good!" as we put the pickle on sandwiches, alongside cooked meat, and sometimes just ate a spoonful.  The flavors pack a punch and really brighten whatever meal they accompany.  Although I might cut back on the ginger just a little bit.

Success!  You should look at this book!

Yum.

The "Making Do" Challenge -- Pickled Lemons (a revisit)

About four years ago, my neighbor gave me his Meyer lemons, and my daughter and I pickled them and wrote about it here:  Pickled Lemons.

They were fine but did not inspire me to want to keep making them.  My neighbor's tree has since died (whaaaaaa!) but my friend DL gave me lemons from his wife, GL's tree.  I wanted to try pickling lemons again but this time using a recipe from Charles Perry's translation of Scents and Flavors, a 14th century Syrian cookbook.

ISBN 978-1-4798-5628-2

I wrote about this book previously, as its recipes were featured at a culinary symposium, put on by the Society for Creative Anachronism.  You can read about it here:  West Coast Culinary Symposium 2018.

This book is fun to read.  The Arabic writings are on the left side of the page and his translation is on the right.  The recipes are intriguing and look tasty.  The spices referenced are wide and varied, including the usual cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger, pepper, and other familiar ones.  But there are also others like spikenard, betel nut, and rose hips. Few recipes look complicated but many use techniques or food combinations I am not used to but look good and doable.

In all honesty, this looks like a cookbook I could spend a lot of time exploring and still offer up tasty meals.

I looked in Chapter 8:  How to Make the Various Types of Sour and Salty Pickles.  The book offers several variations on salted lemons, and I chose the first variation, recipe number 8.20.

Salted Lemons -- First variation

Take salted lemons, cut up small, put in a vessel, and squeeze the juice of fresh lemons to cover.  You can also use sour orange juice, which is milder than lemon juice.  Add oil, mixed spices, pounded toasted coriander seeds, minced parsley, mint, and rue, and set aside.  It is one of the very best and most fragrant of condiments.

These are the ingredients for the pickling liquid. 

My Notes

The night before making the recipe I sliced the cleaned lemons, spread them in a pan, and sprinkled kosher salt over them.  The pan was left slightly tilted so the liquid would gather at the bottom.  The next morning the slices were softer and the salt had been absorbed.

the night before

the morning after

My goal was to make one quart jar full of pickled lemons.

The two lemons missing their peels were juiced for the pickling liquid.  (Their peels were dried and powdered -- well worth it as a flavoring ingredients themselves.  They are really good in bread with olives and sun-dried tomatoes.)

I used a premixed "Poudre fines", consisting of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, grains of paradise, pepper, and saffron.

1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon Poudre fines
1/4 cup mixture of coarsely chopped rue, mint, and parsley

These ingredients were mixed well together in a bowl.

First I put in some of the spice and herb mix. Then several lemon slices.  Then more mix.  I repeated this until the jar was full.

The lemon juice went in to cover, although there was some floating of the lemon slices.  (Two lemons' worth of juice was not enough and I had to add some lemon juice from a bottle.)  After that I poured about a one inch layer of oil over the top.

Not quite full but close enough.

The whole container went into the refrigerator for about a week before I tasted it.

The Verdict

We tried them out of the jar, without putting them with a meal.

The flavor was, well, luscious.  Sour (but not too much for me), barely salty, but the spices and especially the herb flavors came through.  I loved it and so did my guest taster.  I ate several and wanted more.  I think that I liked the mint the best but the whole blend was superb.

The peel is not bitter from the white and the yellow zest is softer in flavor and texture than fresh lemon peel.

We have since had them with a meal, roasted chicken next to a vegetable stew.  It is a great condiment, adding some zing and intrigue to the meal.  We also made sandwiches with cheese and meat and slices of pickled lemon -- it was amazing!

One guest taster, who loves lemons but does not like parsley or cinnamon, did not like the mixture at all.  I could not get parsley as a dominant flavor, but she did.

I have since refilled the jar with more salted lemon slices, using the same juice, herb, and spice mixture.  This one is a keeper.

Success!

Pickled Cherries

Sometimes you just need to go outside and do something yourself.  I visited the Mile High Ranch recently to pick cherries off their 60+ year old trees.  It was fun and felt like I was getting in touch with nature and history.  Sure, I could have gone to the store and bought cherries, but why not have an adventure?

Luscious, sweet cherries

I came home with 9 pounds of cherries, so of course I had to find something historical to do with them.  I decided against making wine or infusing liquor with them.  I was tempted by desserts and may end up doing one of the boiled or steamed pudding recipes I found.

Today's recipe appealed to me because of the pickled loquats I made while my tree was in full production.  They were tasty to eat and the leftover liquid was good in my tea.  Pickling cherries was high up there on the "Ooooo!  I want to try this!" scale.

I found it in my digital copy of the The White House Cook Book, 1887 version.



The authors, Fanny Lemira Gillette and Hugo Ziemann, have impressive credentials.

Hugo Ziemann was at one time caterer for that Prince Napoleon who was killed while fighting the Zulus in Africa.  He was afterwards steward of the famous Hotel Splendide in Paris.  Later he conducted the celebrated Brunswick Cafe in New York, and still later he gave to the Hotel Richelieu, in Chicago, a cuisine which won the applause of even the gourmets of foreign lands.  ...

Mrs. F. L. Gillette is no less proficient and capable, having made a life-long and thorough study of cookery and housekeeping, especially as adapted to the practical wants of average American homes.

(Publisher's Preface)

The books starts off with directions for carving.  Then it covers a wide range of recipe categories and includes menus for the various seasons, months, and holidays.  It concludes with helpful household management ideas, ranging from "Housekeepers' Time-Table", to dyeing, etiquette, giving dinners, and even measures and weights. 

Today's recipe is from the Pickles section.

Ground spices, not whole

My Notes

I was completely out of whole cloves and never had whole blades of mace, so I chose to use ground spices.  Unfortunately, I didn't see their note about putting the ground spices into a bag, so I put them right into the vinegar/sugar mix for cooking and for pouring over the cherries in the jar.

I chose apple cider vinegar and white sugar.  The authors suggested either apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar for pickling.

The recipe did not specify removing the seeds, so I left the cherries unstoned.  I picked through my haul and chose only the cherries that were firm and unblemished.  I decided to make one quart's worth.

Sure enough, one quart in my measuring cup fit a one quart canning jar!



As per directions, I used "a large cupful" of vinegar, measuring just over 8 ounces.

The vinegar, sugar, and spices went into a small saucepan, brought to a boil, and then simmered for five minutes.

Some spices stuck to the walls.  I did not worry about this.

Once it had cooled, I poured it over the cherries.  It did not fill the jar up; it only filled to about halfway.

Not enough!

So I estimated it needed another 6 ounces of the vinegar/sugar mix, which I made but did not add any more spices to it.  Once that was boiled and cooled, I poured it over the cherries.  It still wasn't enough and I was out of apple cider vinegar, so I topped it off with some white wine vinegar.  I poured straight from the bottle, without adding any sugar or spices.  It only took a few tablespoons to nearly cover the cherries.

Close enough

Then I put on the lid and put it into the refrigerator to pickle.  Lately I have been making refrigerator pickled vegetables, so I know they need at least a few hours for the pickling juice to have an effect on them.  I decided to let them sit overnight.

The Verdict

To recap, I needed twice as much of the vinegar/sugar/spice liquid to cover the cherries.  Roughly 16 to 20 ounces of vinegar.

I tried them the next day.  My reaction was this:  they need more time to actually taste pickled -- mostly they tasted like cherries with a vinegar coating.  Another day is needed for the process.

The next day they were more pickled but were too sour from the vinegar.  I added more sugar, shook the jar, and waited more.

A week later it was still too sour except for a guest taster who REALLY loves vinegar/pickled foods.  I added more sugar and waited again.

A few weeks later, I thought it was almost right.  The liquor is still very sour but the cherries themselves are slightly translucent and pickled all the way through.  The spices add a light note and were not dominant in flavor.



I like them!  Success!  I think they would be good over vanilla ice cream or mixed into a fruit salad (remove the pits first), and they are also good just out of the jar.  I think the liquor would be a good base for a shrub, to have a syrup of some sort mixed into it and then diluted with water.

They were still somewhat sour (that made them "almost right") so I added more sugar.  I'll keep doing that until I am happy with the sweet-sour balance.   I have probably used more than 1/2 cup of white sugar to get it this far.

How to Pickle Mushrooms

I was enjoying the book Dining with William Shakespeare by Madge Lorwin, which I wrote about in a previous post, "My Salmon is Soused..." when I came across (on page 18) a recipe called "How to Pickle Mushrooms."  

The original recipe was cited as from William Rabisha's The whole Body of Cookery Dissected.

Actually the full title of the book is The Whole Body of Cookery Dissected, Taught and Fully Manifested, Methodically, Artificially, and According to the Best Tradition of the English, French, Italian, Dutch, &c., Or, A Sympathy of All Varieties in Natural Compounds in that Mysterie, which amuses me to no end.  I think today we would use the word "artfully" instead of "artificially".  

You can download a PDF of this book consisting of scanned images at
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/rbc/rbc0001/2013/2013pennell28918/2013pennell28918.pdf.

Image taken from the Library of Congress Rare Books Collection

This is the 1673 edition.  The first edition arrived in 1661 and four more editions were published over the next 20 years.  You can purchase facsimile print copies, mostly of the 1682 edition.  Once I had downloaded the Library of Congress file of the 1673 version, I found the recipe on page 2 of Book I, right after "How to Pickle Cowcumbers."

Mr. Rabisha presents himself as a person who was raised right and was trained in the art of cooking. He was a master cook in England and in foreign places to ambassadors and nobles alike.  He wished to share his "small endeavors" with the public in hopes of assisting the young "Practitioners" of the art.

What I really love is the poem "In Commendation of the Author" (first stanza):

Cooks burn your Books, and vail your empty brains; 
Put off your feigned Aprons, view the strains
Of this new piece, whose Author doth display
The bravest dish, and shew the nearest way
T' inform the lowest Cook how he may dress,
And make the meanest meat the highest mess;
To please the Fancy of the daintiest Dame,
And sute her palate that she may praise the same.
Give him return of worth, (besides due wages)
And recommend his book to future ages.
Let it be know Rabisha here hath hit,
The fairest passage that hath dared it.
     But read his Book, and judge his Pains,
     His is the labour, yours the gains.

This poem goes on for two pages, describing the contents of the different parts (books) and the high quality of the recipes.

So let us take advantage of William Rabisha's labours and see what gains we get.

How to Pickle Mushrooms

Original version:

Take a bushell of Mushrooms, blanch them over the crown, barm them beneath; if they are new, they look red as a Cherry; if old, black; this being done, through them into a pan of boyling water, then take them forth and let them drain; when they are cold, put them up into your Pot or Glass, puth thereto Cloves, Mace, Ginger, Nutmeggs, whole Pepper; Then take white wine, a little Vinegar, with a little quantity of salt, so pour the Liquour into your Mushrooms, and stope them close for your use all the year.

Ms. Lorwin's "working version":

1/2 pound fresh young mushrooms, about 1 inch in diameter
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon peppercorns
2 cloves
1 large piece of whole mace
1 thin slice fresh ginger
1/2 nutmeg, broken up
3/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon vinegar

Wash the mushrooms under cool running water.  Slice off the stems to within 1/2 inch of the caps.  Put the water, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and the mushrooms into a saucepan and bring to a rapid boil.  Drain the mushrooms immediately and put them into a half-pint, screw-top jar with the spices and the rest of the salt.  Pour the wine and the vinegar over them--if there is not enough liquid to cover the mushrooms, add more wine vinegar.

Cover the jar with a piece of plastic before screwing on the top--otherwise the vinegar will corrode the metal.  Turn the jar upside down several times to distribute the seasonings.  Store in a cool place (but do not refrigerate) for three or four days before using.

My Notes

I couldn't get all small mushrooms but instead halved or quartered the ones I could get.

I used cubebs instead of peppercorns because I could.  I don't have whole mace so I used 1/4 teaspoon of ground mace.  Instead of fresh ginger I used one large slice (halved) of candied ginger.  I used a dry Chardonnay and apple cider vinegar.

The spices

I called it a "rapid boil" when the water was foaming around the mushrooms.

It truly seemed like the mushrooms wouldn't fit in a half pint jar, so I cleaned and microwave-sterilized a pint jar.  This was too big and I hoped the extra air in the jar wouldn't make difference in the flavor.

It didn't seem like the amount of liquid called for was enough so I added some more cider vinegar.  It might have been too much because the mushrooms started floating above the bottom of the jar.

It filled more than half of the jar

Overall the preparation was very easy and I would be willing to do it again and in greater quantities. Assuming it tastes good!

The finished jar was labeled and placed in a storage cupboard for a few days.

The Verdict

We waited four days to taste the mushrooms.  All three of us enjoyed it.  I didn't put in too much cider vinegar after all, although I think it would still taste fine without as much.  If I do this again, I think I will just barely blanch the mushrooms -- they were cooked more than I thought they would be.

Overall, the taste was slightly sour from the vinegar, a little sweet (from the wine?  from the candied ginger?), and the spices were present and interesting but not particularly dominant.  Just right, I would say.

Success!

Ms. Lorwin notes that

Pickled mushrooms were used as "salad" appetizers both when mushrooms were in season and during the cold months to add some zest to usually heavy meals.

Sounds good to me!

I would like to close with the final few lines of the "In Commendation of the Author" poem:

Therefore brave Book, into the world be gone,
Thou vindicates thy Author; fearing none
That ever was, or is, or e're shall be,
Able to find the parallel to thee.

When Life Hands You Lemons... Pickle Them!

The saying is, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!"

However when life hands you Meyer lemons, free from my neighbor's tree, I say, "Get cooking!"

First, though, my apologies.  My work over the last four months has been the busiest ever and I could not find the time to cook and write for this blog.  All I can really say about it is thank goodness for chef salads and store-bought roasted chicken so I could have a balanced diet.  : )

But now the crunch time is over and I am back along with my daughter who is visiting.  We want to cook and she wants to take pictures!  We are ready to take on the fifth year of life for this blog with 107 posts and more than 23,000 page views from all over the world.

Imagine our joy when my new neighbor discovered a prolific Meyer lemon tree in his backyard and proposed that we take them off his hands...

In case you don't know the variety, Meyer lemons are different from the typical lemon you find in the grocery store.  That is a Eureka lemon, a true lemon because the Meyer is a hybrid of lemon and orange or tangerine.  The big differences are that the Meyer has a smoother, thinner skin and its juice is sweeter and less acidic than the Eureka.  A good explanation is found here:  http://homeguides.sfgate.com/difference-meyer-eureka-lemon-trees-54064.html

Eurekas are preferred for the market because they are durable in shipping but Meyers are prized in my area for their flavor and scent.

I spent some quality time perusing my cookbooks (O!  How I missed thee!) to find interesting ways of using my windfall.  The first choice was from A Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden and published in 1974.

ISBN 0-394-71948-4

Ms. Roden began this book around 1950 to recover the tastes of Cairo with which she had grown up, and ended up examining the history of many of the recipes and expanding out to many of the Middle Eastern countries:

With this collection of dishes I wish to offer what to me is a treasure, the detailed and simple explanation of the way in which the women of the Middle East (and, of course, the professional male cooks) have prepared their food for centuries, some even since Pharaonic times.  I would like to pass on the experience which has been transferred from mother and mother-in-law to daughter and daughter-in-law, with the keen encouragement of their husbands, fathers, and brothers.

Exciting!

I was inspired by my success on the Seer Torshi, Persian Pickled Garlic, to try pickled lemons, a favorite in Moroccan cuisine.

Lamoun Makbouss / Pickled Lemon  (page 332)

A delicacy which is also magnificent made with fresh limes.  

Scrub lemons well and slice them.  Sprinkle the slices generously with salt and leave for at least 24 hours on a large plate set at an angle or in a colander.  They will become soft and limp, and lose their bitterness.  Arrange the lemon slides in layers in a glass jar, sprinkling a little paprika between each layer.  Cover with corn or nut oil.  Sometimes olive oil is used, but its taste is rather strong and may slightly overpower the lemons.

Close the jar tightly.  After about 3 weeks the lemons should be ready to eat -- soft, mellow, and a beautiful orange color.  

My mother accidentally discovered a way of speeding up the process when left with dozens of lemon wedges which had been used to garnish a large party dish.  She put them in the freezing compartment of her refrigerator to keep them until she was ready to pickle them.  When she sprinkled the frozen lemons with salt, she found that they shed a large quality of water and softened in just over an hour.  They were ready for eating after only a few days in oil and paprika.

The lemons are frozen here

We decided to freeze our lemon slices and wedges (just to try both!) before we salted them.  That way they would be ready to try before my daughter had to leave.

Be sure to remove the seeds before freezing!

Once they had been frozen overnight, we put them on a cookie rack over a pan and sprinkled them with the salt.  The lemons certainly gave up a lot of water quickly but we let them sit for about 12 hours anyway.



Then we packed the slices and wedges into a glass canning jar, sprinkling with a bit of paprika between the layers.  Note:  The instructions didn't say to sterilize the jar but we filled it with water and microwaved it until it boiled, then drained the water and let it steam dry.

We finished the recipe off by covering the lemons with canola oil and putting on the lid.  I tapped the jar several times to get the air bubbles out from between the layers.



It was tough to wait but we managed a week.

A pretty picture

The Verdict

Five of us did the taste test.  One, who does not like anything bitter at all, did not like the taste of the pickled lemon and didn't finish her piece.  Three thought it was okay -- the bitter level wasn't high but it was present; mostly it was considered too sour and they wished there was some sugar involved in the pickling process.  The fifth liked it enough to have two and noted that the flavors came in waves:  sour, salty, and then a little sweet.

We wondered how the pickled lemons were utilized in Moroccan food.  Was it to be served as a garnish?  A condiment?  None of us thought it should be served "as is" because we expected more depth of flavor for something you should pick up and eat.  To be clear, the slices tasted like lemons, which is something desirable if that is the flavor you want for your garnish or to add to a recipe.  It was not desirable if you wanted something to nibble -- and that was confirmed by the person who likes to eat fresh lemons.

Perhaps I didn't use enough paprika and that would have made a better flavor.  Perhaps the recipe's goal was to capture and protect the flavor of fresh lemons for a time when lemons weren't available. It definitely achieved that goal!

So we decided to call it a success but with the accompanying "meh" to indicate that it was not something we were excited about.  The jar is sealed back up and put away to pickle some more.  We'll taste test it again in the future.

The Bonus

The lemons we prepared for the recipe didn't all fit into the jar we had picked out.  So the rest went into another jar and we covered them with brandy.  We tried those, too, and found them to be a little more interesting than the lemons in oil.  The brandy had soaked into the peel and that was good.  The salt was a surprise flavor on the tongue.  Then the lemon flavor from the fruit spread its goodness across the tongue.  Overall, I think that was a better success but that it still needs time to soak.