Kitchen Garden Forum

Help. Gone to start pickling my shallots, out of pickling spices, been unable to find any in the local supermarkets, get blank looks from the staff, will have to make up my own, trouble is I have never really looked at the make-up, any suggestions ! not to strong.

Hi Shallotman, my advice is go for the spices you like best, there is a wide choice

coriander, mustard seed, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, bay leaves and black pepper. Indian pickling spices often also use turmeric, cardamom, and chili peppers.

Many thanks.

My wife makes her own pickling vinegar from the cheapest white vinegar we can find - often wondered why brown malt vinegar is cheaper when it has something added.
Doesn't do it to a fixed recipe but it is something like this one from the Cordon Bleu Preserving book.
To a quart of white malt vinegar add
½ oz peppercorns
¼ oz allspice
½ oz mustard seed
1 teaspoon mace
1 stick of cinnamon
Put the spices in a muslin bag and boil them up in the vinegar then leave to soak for two hours then remove the bag. You can make it in advance and store it back in the bottles.
She often also adds a chilli and some recipes use sugar as well.
Bit vague but I hope it helps, guess you can almost put whatever spices you fancy in the bag. Mind you do your shops have spices?

Dear shallot man,
you could try ringing this company. Fox's spices 01789 266420 they don't appear to have a website I can access byt they will do what you are looking for by mail order.
Regards Sally Wright.

Good evening Shallot man,

The reason why your local supermarket haven't got any in stock, is that you are a bit early for pickling.

I'll have a look tomorrow and let you know if we have any

Many thanks for your replies.

Dear Shallot man,
they have pickling spices in Sainsburys both their own and schwartz.
regards Sally Wright.

sally wright. Thankyou sally, will visit them on Monday.

Hi sally. Had the last jar from Sainsbury's yesterday.

Crispy fried shallots are an essential condiment in Vietnam. They turn up in soups (pho) and on salads, sprinkled onto dumplings as a garnish, and minced and added to meatballs. Crispy, sweet, and salty, they are indispensable.