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
Can I use mayonnaise jar as well??
I guess so – the key thing is to avoid rust/ rusted lids and to make sure the jars are clean/ sterile.
I preserve lots of stuff: rhubarb, apples, pears and tomates because we grow lots and I hate to throw anything away.
Having grown up in Nigeria, we never preserved fruit, just cassava and yams. We just moved from on to anyou fruit in season.
My aunts just brought me loads of agbalumo from Nigeria, so now that friends and family have had their fill, I shall preserve the rest and see how it goes.
Very pretty. I’ve never preserved a thing in my life lol
Loool, neither had I till the first time. Small steps…
Just lovely!