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So even though it’s still technically summer I am already feeling the urge to get into the kitchen and start pickling. It’s the same every year, some thing I guess I owe to my post war childhood when the end of summer signalled a round of preserving that filled the house with the smell of vinegar for months.

There really is no need for any of us to make our own pickles and chutneys these days and folk that sell on Farmer’s Markets are only to happy to shift their preserves. But as with much home cooked food, not all, you didn’t meet my mother-in-law, home made is best.

I find no difficulty in passing over jam making as I have almost no sweet tooth but pickles really appeal.

I was at the Red Market in Shoreditch , before it was closed down, and was trying out Piccalilli at Tom Dixon’s Shorditch Smoke stand. One was made to my recipe and one he got from a friend who used some whole spices and fresh chilli so I though to adapt mine and update it.

The Farmer’s market yielded fresh veg and so today I’m back in the pickling swing.

Piccalilli