The salty brine in this dish lets the radishes’ spicy flavour shine through
Radishes are very easy to grow, even in small spaces such as windowsills, says Dr Alanna Collen. And the beauty of them is that you get two crops in one: the root and the leaves.
The pink, peppery root makes a fantastic pickle, and using salt brine in place of vinegar helps their fresh, spicy flavour shine through.
This recipe makes a 200g jar. Fermentation time: 3-21 days.
You will need:
- 200g sterilised jar, with an airtight lid
- Grapevine leaf/horseradish leaf/bay leaves/a clean square of cloth, for weighing down
- 150g radish roots, tops removed
- A few sprigs of garden herbs (thyme, bay leaves, dill)
- 1 garlic clove, halved
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 100ml water
Method
- Clean the radishes. Pack them into the jar, tucking the herbs and garlic in as you go. Use a grapevine/bay/horseradish leaf, bay leaves or a clean cloth to cap the top of the radishes, which will hold them under the brine.
- Whisk the salt into the water until fully dissolved. Pour this brine over the radishes, filling the jar right to the top (you might have excess brine).
- Secure an airtight lid on the jar and set it on a plate (to hold brine that might bubble out). Leave to ferment at room temp for as little as 3 days or as long as 3 weeks (depends on how strong a flavour you want). The longer the ferment, the funkier.
- Transfer to the fridge to halt fermentation. Eat within 3 months. The pickles are lovely served with grilled mackerel or with hummus and a salad.
Taken from “Recipes to Reconnect”, edited by Anna Boglione, published by Octopus at £35. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £27.99 (incl. p&p), call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.
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