Pickled Shallots

English shallots left whole in spiced malt vinegar and kept until they are crisp, sharp, and amber

Origin: England

From the journey of Shallot.

The English pickled onion is a jar of small alliums in malt vinegar on a pub bar, and the good ones are made with shallots rather than onions. The reason is structural rather than sentimental. A shallot carries less water and denser flesh than a bulb onion, so it stays crisp in vinegar for a year where an onion goes soft and slippery within a few months. Its higher sugar also stands up to the ferocity of malt vinegar, which is aggressive enough to flatten anything milder. Growers used to sell a small hard variety expressly for the purpose and it was known simply as the pickling shallot. The brining step before pickling is what most people skip and it is the one that matters. Salting the peeled shallots overnight, either in dry salt or in a strong brine, draws water out of the cells, and shallots that have given up their water take up vinegar instead of diluting it. Skip it and the pickle is watery, the vinegar is weakened, and the crispness lasts a fraction as long. Spicing is a matter of household allegiance. Black peppercorns, mustard seed, allspice, coriander seed, bay, and dried chilli in some combination; a little sugar in the vinegar is common in the north and disputed elsewhere. The hard part is waiting. They are edible after a fortnight, respectable after a month, and properly good at three, by which time the harshness of the raw vinegar has gone and the shallots have turned faintly amber and translucent at the edges.

Ingredients

Shallots

  • 1 kg small pickling shallots, peeled

Brining

  • 100 g fine sea salt
  • 1 litre water, for the brine

Pickling Vinegar

  • 1 litre malt vinegar
  • 50 g caster sugar, optional
  • 2 tbsp black peppercorns
  • 2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
  • 1 tbsp allspice berries
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 4 whole bay leaves
  • 4 whole dried red chillies
  • 1 whole cinnamon stick, broken

Method

  1. Pour boiling water over the unpeeled shallots, leave for one minute, then drain and cover with cold water. The skins will slip off easily.
  2. Trim the root end as little as possible, leaving the base intact so the layers stay together.
  3. Dissolve the salt in the water, pour over the peeled shallots in a bowl, weigh them down under a plate, and leave overnight at room temperature.
  4. The next day, drain the shallots thoroughly, rinse briefly in cold water, and pat them completely dry.
  5. Put the vinegar, sugar if using, and all the spices in a pan, bring slowly to the boil, then simmer for five minutes.
  6. Take the vinegar off the heat and let it cool completely before it goes anywhere near the shallots.
  7. Pack the shallots into sterilised jars, distributing the whole spices between them, and pour over the cold spiced vinegar until completely covered.
  8. Seal with vinegar-proof lids and store somewhere cool and dark.
  9. Leave for at least six weeks before opening, and preferably three months.

Notes

Small hard shallots are what this wants. Large soft ones will pickle but never achieve the same snap. Malt vinegar is the English tradition and gives the characteristic dark colour and maltiness. Cider vinegar gives a lighter, fruitier pickle; distilled malt gives a paler jar with the same sharpness. The sugar is optional and regional. Northern English pickles are commonly slightly sweetened; southern ones often are not. They keep for a year unopened in a cool dark place and for several months in the refrigerator once opened. Serve with a ploughman's lunch, with strong cheddar, with cold pork pie, with fish and chips, or straight from the jar, which is what usually happens.

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