Pantry

Quick pickled red onions

October

• 2 red onions, sliced thin
• 240 ml cider vinegar, 120 ml water
• 1 tbsp sugar, 2 tsp salt, a few peppercorns
• Pour the hot brine over, ready in an hour, keeps three weeks in the fridge

Rice vinegar gives a softer result; white wine vinegar sits between the two.

Sauerkraut at 2% salt

September

Weigh the cabbage, add exactly 2% salt, massage until it weeps, pack under its own brine. Three weeks at 18 °C is the sweet spot; warmer goes soft.

Tomato passata for winter

August

Roasted plum tomatoes through a food mill, reduced by a third, jarred hot with a basil leaf and a spoon of lemon juice per jar.