One way to enjoy fruits and veg in season – carrots, agbalumo, oranges – is to explore a variety of uses – fresh, cooked, preserved. I especially like pickles – they add bright flavour to dishes – a bit sour, tart, sharp even, not to mention the burst of colour.
Pickling isn’t an oft-used preservation technique in Nigerian cuisine – drying is more common.
When I thought of pickling, I decided to go the vinegar route in creating that acidity for the chosen fruits and vegetables. Vinegar – compared with citrus juice is easier to work with for not-so-quick pickles.
When I want to pickle onions, I often go for lime juice. My onions are ready in 10 minutes. I literally slice then, drench in lime juice and salt, leave them to sit and they are ready.
Preparation
- Select fruit and veg – then prep. For my carrots and oranges, I blanched; for the agbalumo, I didn’t.
- Vinegars like plain white, malt and apple cider are prime choices.
- To create depth of flavour, whole spices are the way to go.
Carrot Pickles
I made a pickling liquid with some coriander seeds, cumin seeds, bay leaf, blackpepper corns, salt and sugar.
{Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz’s Easy Pickled Carrots}
Agbalumo Pickles
For the agbalumo pickles, I processed the fruit, seperating flesh from seeds. The seeds I reserved for drinks later, and the flesh I set aside.
I made a pickling liquid with green cardamom, alligator pepper (grains of paradise), fresh ginger and lime.
{Recipe: I used the same pickling base as for the carrots}
Orange Pickles
I’m a huge fan of preserved citrus. I’ve done a few citrus preserves – sweet and savoury.
Here, I went with green cardamom, mace and black peppercorns to spice it up.
{Recipe: adapted from Please Pass The Recipe}
While my pickles rested, I sterilised my jars
{How to sterilise jars for canning}
Can you already taste the tons of flavour these will pack? I’m wondering how they’ll pair with sweet dishes, like the citrus in a tart, or the carrots in a triffle??? I’m excited to try.
How pretty does this look?
I can’t wait to serve these with meats and veg too.
What are you preserving? How? Share all xxx
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