A very sweet customer from Maryland got in touch to tell us how much she loved the blog and to enquire about purchasing our cookbook “Tea & Sympathy: A Tale of an English Teashop in New York”. She also asked about a good recipe for Piccalilli. After a bit of head-scratching, soul-searching and thumb-twiddling Matt in A Salt & Battery, our fish and chip shop, recommended this version from the extremely affable Rick Stein. We thought it hit the spot perfectly and was well worth sharing with you all.
Piccalilli is a traditional English relish made of pickled vegetables. Cauliflower and vegetable marrow always play a leading role, as do mustard powder (we recommend Colman’s) and turmeric, the delicacy of which, balanced with the robustness of the vinegar, creates the condiment’s distinct flavor. Serve with crusty bread and thickly cut ham for a simple but divine snack.
Piccalilli
Overnight preparation time
30 mins to 1 hour cooking time
Makes 12 x 450g/1lb jars
Ingredients
- 450g/1 lb salt
- 4.5 litres/8 pints boiling water
- 2 medium cauliflowers (each weighing about 450g/1 lb), broken into small florets
- 450g/1 lb pickling onions, peeled and halved
- 450g/1 lb runner beans, topped and tailed, sides peeled away and cut diagonally into 2.5cm(1 in) pieces
- ½ large cucumber, halved lengthways, seeds removed and then into 1cm(0.5in) chunks
- 225g/8oz courgettes, topped and tailed and cut into 1cm chunks
- 275g/10oz caster sugar
- 1.5 litres/2 pints 13fl oz distilled malt vinegar, plus extra 5 tbsp
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- ½ whole nutmeg, grated
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- 50g/1¾oz plain flour
- 25g/1oz mustard powder
- 25g/1oz turmeric powder
- 15g/½oz ground ginger
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
Preparation method
- Mix the salt with the boiling water. Leave to cool, divide between two large bowls and add the cauliflower and onions to one bowl and the runner beans, cucumber and courgettes to the other. Cover with a plate to keep the vegetables submerged and leave for 12-24 hours.
- Drain the vegetables and rinse them well, still keeping them separate.
- Put the sugar, garlic and 1.5 litres (2 pints 13fl oz) of vinegar into a large pan. Bring to the boil, add the cauliflower, onions, allspice and nutmeg and cook for just three minutes. Add the beans and the cucumber and cook for a further 4-5 minutes. The vegetables only want to be just cooked, with still a little crunch left in them. Lift out of the vinegar with a large spider or sieve into a large bowl and set aside.
- Mix the flour, mustard, turmeric and ginger powder with the rest of the vinegar and enough water to make a smooth paste. Add a little of the hot vinegar mixture, stir into the rest left in the pan and bring to the boil, stirring. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir the sauce into the vegetables, spoon into warm sterilised jars and seal with vinegar proof lids.
In properly sterilized jars, this will keep for an age – with Hurricane Irene around the corner, stock up now; this well keep you well fed for months!
We stock two varieties of piccalilli in-store. Haywards for $8.95 and Heinz for $4.95 – we can ship and you can order via email: info@teaandsympathynewyork.com, or by phone: 212-989-9735. Keep it a secret but the former is far superior.
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