SAUCES AND PICKLES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 20, Issue 509, 25 March 1949, Page 22

SAUCES AND PICKLES

ANY an otherwise uninteresting meal of cold meat is ~ made popular if plenty of home-made sauce or pickle is available to go with it. Moreover, it is easy to make-no worry about the "setting" as with jam-and uneven and very ripe fruit can be used, provided bruised parts are cut off and the fruit is really sound. Sauces and pickles need to be well boiled to make them keep. Never let metal lids touch pickles -they cause corrosion. Cut pieces of white kitchen paper.to put inside these lids, if you have to use them; or cover with paraffin wax after they have cooled; then cork, or cover as usual. Sauces can be filled into any bottles, and corked; then cover the whole top of the bottle with melted wax, to make sure the seal is perfect.

Black Currant Sauce This recipe was given me in Otago by a Women’s Institute member. Three tumblers of black currant juice (made by boiling black currants with very little water, and straining as for jelly), 2 tumblers of vinegar, 142lb. sugar, ¥2 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon each of cloves, spice and cinnamon, and pepper to taste. Boil together for half an hour. Pickled Peaches One pint of vinegar; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1% cups sugar; few cloves. Boil for 10 minutes. Add the halved and stoned peaches. Boil till tender. Lift into hot jars, boil the syrup again, and pour over. Add a few cloves to each jar, and seal airtight. Combination Fruit Pickle Four pounds of unripe, or scarcely ripe fruit-such as peaches, plums, bananas, apples, apricots, or any fruit you have; the more varieties the better. Cut them all into small slices; add Yalb. each of raisins, currants and sliced preserved ginger. Tie in a muslin bag 1 teaspoon each of whole pepper, cloves and mace, and boil in 1 pint of vinegar for 10 minutes. Then add 2lb, of brown sugar; 1%4lb. of salt; and boil for 5 minutes longer. Add the fruit and boil for 1 hour. Lime juice may be used in place of vinegar if liked; or the juice of lemons. Plum Sauce Six pounds red* plums; 3lb. brown sugar; 1 tablespoon salt; 3 pints good vinegar; 1 dessertspoon cayenne; 3 large onions; 3 large cooking apples; 202. allspice; 120z. cloves; ¥20z. bruised ginger. Boil all for 2 hours, Strain and bottle. : Tomato Sauce Eight pounds of sliced tomatoes; 3 large onions sliced; 3 large apples, cored and cut up but not peeled; 3o0z. salt; 2lb. light brown sugar; oz. (bare) cayenne; 30z. whole spice; 1/202. cloves; oz. ground ginger; 1 quart vinegar. Put all the spice in a muslin bag. Boil

all together for 3 hours. Then strain and boil again for 30 minutes, The second boiling is absolutely necessary. Cork or seal tightly. Tomato Sauce with Honey Eight pounds of tomatoes; 2lb. honey; 1lb, large onions; 2 tablespoons salt; 1 teaspoon ground cloves; 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Cover with vinegar and boil for 3 hours. Should not ferment, Sweet Piccalilli Two pounds of green tomatoes; 2lb. onions; 2lb. green beans; 1 medium cauliflower; 6 small cucumbers; 5 pints vinegar;, 2 cups sugar; 1 cup flour; 4 tablespoons mustard; 1 tablespoon turmeric. Wipe vegetables, and cut up neatly. Cut up cauliflower stalks and put in; break cauliflower into little -___:._-C # OOonm----

flowerettes. Put all in brine of 1 cup salt to 4 cups water, cover, and leave 48 hours. Bring to scalding point in brine. Strain carefully. Pour on 4 pints of vinegar and bring to boil. Mix sugar, mustard and flour with the remaining pint of vinegar, and add. Cook 10 minutes more. Bean Relish Four pounds of sliced beans (scarlet runners are good); 7 large onions sliced finely; 2 tablespoons each of salt, flour and mustard; 2 small teaspoons pepper; 6 pints vinegar; 2 heaped teaspoons turmeric; 1141b. sugar. Boil vinegar, pepper, salt, sugar, beans and onions together for 1 hour, or till tender. Mix flour, mustard and ‘turmeric with a little cold vinegar. Stir into beans and boil a few minutes longer. Cover when cold, A small piece of finely chopped garlic is an improvement, too. Pickled Green Walnuts Prick the freshly-picked walnuts all over-about 100. Place in brine of 6oz. salt to 2 quarts cold water. Change the brine every 3 days and keep stirring them about. This takes about 9 days. Take walnuts out, drain them, expose to the sun till they go black. Boil up 20z. black pepper, 30z. ginger, 3oz. cloves, 20z. mustard seed in 2 quarts of vinegar for about 10 minutes. Strain this, and pour over the walnuts in glass bottles. Pick walnuts early.