Think classic bread-and-butter pickles, with their sweetly-tangy taste, pickled veggies such as beets and wild leeks, as well as prosciutto di Parma.
The Butler’s new Head Chef, Amber Doig, is obsessed with pickling and curing, taking the mundane and turning it into magic. Having spent lots of time creating new and exciting flavours to otherwise ordinary dishes, she shares her top tips for using these methods:
- A quick 45 minute cure in a 50/50 mix of sugar and salt heightens flavour and texture of any fish for example salmon, trout, kingfish and mackerel.
- You can wash salt off your fish with tequila or vodka instead of water to further enhance. After your cure fish (as recommended), you can either eat it raw or smoke it.
- Use apple cider vinegar as a base for pickling brines – it takes on any added flavours and aromatics well without being overpowering.
- A simple base for any pickle vegetables (for example pickles and onions) is – 2 cups cider vinegar, 1 bay leaf, 25 grams sugar, 25 grams of salt, a pinch of coriander seeds and a pinch of peppercorns.
