Pickled vegetables are always present on a Middle Eastern table. Olives, green chillies and turnips are most common but small eggplants, cucumbers and cauliflower are also popular. Turnips, traditionally stained bright pink with beetroot juice, are the most distinctive, though commercial ones are usually artificially coloured these days. The good news is they’re easy to make and keep for a month in the fridge. If turnips are unavailable, use swedes instead, they are slightly creamy-coloured rather than pure white, but taste very similar, especially once they’re pickled. My sister’s Lebanese mother-in-law, Tetta as everyone affectionately called her, was a wonderful cook and thrifty housekeeper, she used the liquid leftover from canned beetroot to colour her pickled turnips and they were delicious!
Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients
- 1 x 250g turnip or swede
- 1 small beetroot, (about 60g)
Pickling Liquid
- ¾ cup water
- 110ml white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon salt flakes
Method
- Make Pickling Liquid: combine all Ingredients, stirring until salt dissolves.
- Trim and peel the turnip and cut into batons.
- Trim and peel the beetroot and cut into slightly thinner batons.
- Pack turnip into a sterilised jar interspersing with pieces of beetroot.
- Cover with Pickling Liquid, topping up with boiled water if necessary so that all pieces are fully submerged.
- Press a cartouche cut from baking paper onto the surface, seal jar and store in a cool, dark place for a few days, then refrigerate and use within a month.
