an abundant harvest from a fruit tree or from the kitchen garden, vegetables that are on sale - all fruits and vegetables that you can't eat right away can be fermented or preserved - longer lasting and tastier in a fragrant vinegar or sugar syrup. Here's how you go about it!
The basic recipe for pickling vinegar for vegetables of your choice
For 4 jars of ½ liter
Basically, anything can be pickled. Preferably use fresh, organically grown vegetables. The shelf life differs per vegetable and fruit. As a general rule of thumb, once opened, use within four to six weeks.
Put 5 cups of apple cider vinegar and 2½ cups of water in a saucepan. Add 100 grams of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of sea salt, 2 tablespoons of fenugreek seeds, 2 bay leaves, ½ red pepper, and 2 cloves of garlic. Bring everything to a boil, stir until the sugar dissolves and simmer for another 10 minutes. Divide the clean and sliced vegetables among the jars, pour the vinegar over and close the jars.
One of our favorite recipes:
Tangerines with rose-pepper syrup
For a 2-liter jar
From 1¼ kilograms of tangerines, take two pieces and grate their peel over a saucepan. Squeeze the juice of the two tangerines over it. Add the rind and juice of 1 organic lemon and 300 grams of granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of Szechuan peppercorns, and 7½ deciliters of water. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and simmer for 10 minutes. Peel the skin from the rest of the tangerines and remove as many white skins and threads as possible. Place the tangerines in a spotless jar and add the washed rose petals from 4 unsprayed roses or use dried rose petals.
Pour the warm syrup over the fruit, close the jar, and store in the refrigerator for 2 months before use. Opened, it will keep for four weeks.
The syrup and the soft, sweet tangerines are delicious with vanilla ice cream, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. You can drizzle the syrup over desserts or cakes, or use it for cocktails!