JIM WELLER wrote to DAVE DRUM <=-
cornichons [...] French [...] small, very sour gherkin pickle.
harvested when they are just 1 to 2 inches long and very skinny.
The gherkins I remember were about as large as my thumb (at
that time)
The Maille ones are barely 1 1/2" long and no more than 3/8" thick.
That fits nicely as I was a pre-teen at the time.
French cornichons [...] have little or no sugar
So were the senf gherkins my grandmother made. Talk about
pucker-power. I suspect that, although it's not called out in the
recipe I posted, the alum she added for "crispness" may have had
something to do with that.
My mom stopped using alum in pickles in the 1950s for a while when aluminum in food first got a bad rep. Friends of hers stopped using deodorants and threw out their aluminum cookware. (Subsequent
research debunked all the unfounded weird claims). Some alternatives
are: horseradish (root and leaves), lime (that's slaked lime,
calcium oxide and not quick lime, calcium hydroxide) or oak, sour
cherry leaves or grape leaves.
According to the USDA, alum may still safely be used to firm fermented cucumbers, but it does not improve the firmness of quick-process pickles.
Old fashioned pickle recipes tend to include alum as a key ingredient.
Alum is added to pickles to create the classic crispness and crunch of
a good dill pickle. The use of alum for pickling is less common now
because, while approved as a food additive, it has been deemed
unnecessary in the pickling process.
That said, alum continues to be used as a crisping agent in many
favourite pickle recipes.
The family cookbook that my grandmother kept and my mother had was
taken by my sister after Mom snuffed it. She gave it to one of her daughters and no has seen it since.
Too bad. I have the one my mom started in 1935 in high school for
Home Ec. Part of the assignment was to interview her oldest living
female relatives and take notes, so some the family recipes can be
traced back to her parent's grandparents and great aunts. She
stopped the project in 1939 when she graduated but resumed it in
1947 when she got married and asked her MIL for Weller family
favorites. That petered off until 1962 when we all moved to
Ottawa and she made friends with Jewish, Swedish, Italian and
Polish ladies so started learning new things. The last entry was in
1965 and was actually a newspaper clipping and not a personal hand
written recipe.
I've posted this extract here before, long ago ...
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
Title: Aunt Ellen's Cornish Pasties
Categories: British, Steak, Jw, Pies, Tnt
Yield: 1 Batch
I recall seeing it. It's now added to my archives. Couple questions as
you have likely eaten of this recipe - does "cubed" really mean "diced"
or does it mean "cubed" as in cubed steaks? And why would you need leeks
when you already have onion? The recipe is from Cornwall not Wales. Bv)=
I asked Bing for pickle recipes w/alum. This is what I got. No alum in
it that I can see. Still, it looks good. And you can use the left-over watermelon flesh to make agua fresca or other cooler.
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
Title: Watermelon Pickles
Categories: Fruits, Preserving
Yield: 6 half-pints
10 lb Watermelon
6 c Water
1/3 c Pickling salt
Cold water
3 1/2 c Sugar
1 1/2 c White vinegar
1 1/2 c Water
1 (15") stick cinnamon;
- broken
2 ts Whole cloves
Cut rind from watermelon (you should have about 4 1/2
pounds rind). Trim off the pink flesh and the green and
pale green outer portions of the watermelon rind;
discard those portions. Cut the rind into 1-inch squares
or other shapes. Measure 9 cups rind.
Place the 9 cups rind in a large nonmetal bowl. In
another large bowl, combine the 6 cups water and the
pickling salt; pour over rind (add more water, if
necessary, to cover). Cover bowl and allow to stand at
room temperature overnight.
Pour the rind mixture into a colander set in sink. Rinse
mixture under cold running water; drain well. Transfer
rind to a 4 quart heavy pot. Add enough cold water to
cover rind. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer,
covered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until rind is tender;
drain.
Meanwhile, for syrup, in a 6 to 8 quart stainless-steel,
enamel, or nonstick heavy pot, combine sugar, vinegar,
the 1 1/2 cups water, the stick cinnamon, and cloves.
Bring to boiling, stirring until sugar dissolves; reduce
heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Strain mixture
through a sieve, reserving liquids. Discard solids and
return liquids to same pot.
Add watermelon rind to syrup in pot. Bring to boiling;
reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 25 to 30 minutes or
until rind is translucent.
Pack hot rind and syrup into hot, sterilized half-pint
canning jars, leaving a 1/2" headspace. Wipe jar rims;
adjust lids.
Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 10
minutes (start timing when water returns to boiling).
Remove jars from canner; cool on wire racks.
RECIPE FROM:
https://www.bhg.com
Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives
MMMMM
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