[DANSK] Pickles Here, Pickles There, Pickles, Pickles Everywhere!

Back when I told you about Pariserbøf, I briefly mentioned pickles, our rather, the thing we Danes call pickles. I think it might go under the name mustard relish or picalilli out in the big world. It is a complete necessity when making Pariserbøf, but also makes for a mean quick remoulade (again, the Danish kind - French may think us calling this remoulade bordering on an insult!) if you chop it up finely (or buy the finely chopped kind, of course) and mix it with a little mayo.

Basically, it's an assortment of vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, onions - some people add celeriac, cucumbers, green beans, bell peppers, too) in a mustardy, spiced (not necessarily spicy) sauce. It's usually something I buy, but when rummaging through my old magazines at the beginning of my vacation, I found a recipe in my favorite Danish food magazine. Slowly, it dawned on me that "hey! I can make this myself!" And not have all the E-numbers. There is already a way of avoiding the E-numbers, but the brand I found without them will cost you an arm and a leg (45 kr./about $7-8) for a small jar. Which is no good when you tend to eat an entire jar in one sitting.

So I bought the best Danish cauliflower and organic carrots and onions money could buy, found the big bottle of vinegar and set to the job. Now, I am the proud owner of three half litre jars and one 3/4 l. jar of pickles. It's mighty great pickles. And here's the recipe:

Gastro's Pickles - adapted from the October 2006 issue

750 g. carrots, peeled
750 g. cauliflower
500 g. onions
500 g. salt
3 l. water

Cut the carrots into 1x1 centimeter cubes and divide the cauliflower into small florets, roughly the same size as the carrots. You can go smaller or larger here as you like, just adjust the cooking time later on. Peel the onions, then cut it into 12 wedges (depending on the size of your onions - mine were a small medium size - very precise, aren't I?)

Dissolve the salt in the water. Pour this over the cut-up vegetables, and leave in the fridge to salt for 12 hours minimum.

For the sauce:
1 ½ apple cider vinegar
1 kg. sugar
3 tablespoons paprika
1 ½ tablespoons cayenne pepper (the original recipe calls for 3 tablespoons, but I'm a whimp)
3 tablespoons curry powder
3 tablespoons turmeric powder
3 tablespoons mustard powder
(you can up or down the amount of spices to your liking, naturellement!)

30-40 g. corn starch (maybe more)

Mix everything but the corn starch in a big, shallow pan. Bring to the boil and boil for 3-4 minutes. Thicken the vinegar-mix with corn starch dissolved in a little water. You want a consistency sorta like mayo, 'cause you really need the sauce to cling to the veggies, once they're mixed. I needed to use a lot more corn starch than originally called for, to get that texture. The sauce wont thicken particularly once it cools. Believe me, I thought so and went ahead and jarred everything, just to have to re-boil and re-thicken the sauce. It's just not necessary for you to do the same :)

The pickles will keep for about 6 months in unopened jars in the fridge. Yes, my fridge is pretty full. Which is good, 'cause I think I feel a craving creeping up...