To Pickle Barberries and Siberias Crabs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Select unripe barberries and Siberian crabs.
Cut half the length of their stalks.
Remove any discolored berries from the barberries.
Make the brine
Boil 1 quart of water with 6 ounces of coarse sea salt and the alum for 10 minutes. Skim the surface.
Let the brine cool completely.
Pour the cooled brine over the fruits in stone jars.
Keep and refresh
Check the jars occasionally during winter. Remove any scum or mold that forms.
If needed, drain the brine. Refill with freshly made brine.
Vinegar option
Boil alum with enough vinegar to cover the fruits. Add a few white peppercorns. Strain the peppercorns.
Let the vinegar cool. Pour the cooled vinegar over the fruits.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the fruit and preserves it in the brine.
- Alum
- Helps the fruit keep its firmness during long pickling.
- Vinegar (in the method)
- Adds acidity that preserves the fruit and sharpens its flavor.
The step that matters
Let the brine cool completely. Pouring hot brine over fruit can soften it and cook the surface, so the brine must be fully cooled before it goes into the jars.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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