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📝 Description
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🥘 Ingredients
Salt and water, 1 oz. of bruised ginger, 1/2 oz. of whole black pepper, 1/4 oz. of whole allspice, 4 cloves, 2 blades of mace, a little horseradish. This proportion of pepper, spices, &c., for 1 quart of vinegar.
👨🍳 Method
Let the gherkins remain in salt and water for 3 or 4 days, when take them out, wipe perfectly dry, and put them into a stone jar. Boil sufficient vinegar to cover them, with spices and pepper, &c., in the above proportion, for 10 minutes; pour it, quite boiling, over the gherkins, cover the jar with vine-leaves, and put over them a plate, setting them near the fire, where they must remain all night. Next day drain off the vinegar, boil it up again, and pour it hot over them. Cover up with fresh leaves, and let the whole remain till quite cold. Now tie down closely with bladder to exclude the air, and in a month or two, they will be fit for use.
📜 From Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861). Public domain.
⭐ Reader Reviews
Honest opinions from readers who have explored this book.
I tried this old-fashioned Pickled Gherkins recipe this week, and I was charmed by the simplicity and patience it required. I found the process of layering flavors through the vinegar infusion to be a delightful exercise in technique. The combination of spices — particularly the mace — was a pleasant surprise, as I'd never used it in pickling before. It lent a warm, subtle aroma that complemented the tangy vinegar beautifully. This recipe is perfect for the weeknight cook who enjoys a bit of planning ahead. The initial salt soak and the subsequent boiling and steeping process might seem like a lot of steps, but the result is a jar of pickles that improve with time. I loved how the vine-leaves and bladder method created a seal, encouraging the flavors to meld and intensify. After a month, I opened the jar to find pickles that were crisp, tangy, and full of depth. It's a rewarding process that yields a satisfying, old-world flavor.
