Like pickled eggs are another visual and salivating aid, at least to me, to sit on the bar. They can be eaten alone but they go superbly with cheese in a Ploughman’s Lunch.
Towards the start of October onwards you should begin to see small ‘pickling onions’ in the greengrocers.
To make pickling vinegar, wrap 10g pickling spice (available from any supermarket), a couple of bay leaves and 1 tbsp sugar in muslin and tie it up with string. Put in a pan with a litre of malt vinegar. Boil for 5 minutes then remove from the heat and leave to steep overnight.
Put a kilo of unpeeled pickling or pearl onions in a large bowl and pour boiling water, straight from the kettle, over them. Leave it for a few minutes. This will make them easier to peel. Drain with a colander. Return to the bowl and cover with cold water. Now cut off the roots and peel them. It is a bit of a chore, with onions so small, so you may need a quick chug along the way. Once peeled, rinse, pat dry and return to a clean bowl, layering with plenty of rock salt as you go. Cover with a tea-towel and leave in the fridge overnight.
The next morning rinse well and drain. Put them in a 1 litre, serialised Mason jar and completely cover with the pickling vinegar. Add a couple of dried red chilli peppers. Seal with a serialised lid.
Stand down and wait for at least 6 weeks. They will keep for 6 months or more in a pantry, as long as it is cool and dark and the liquid still covers the onions. They’ll mature nicely as they go. Just don’t expect a kiss from a stranger or even anyone more intimate with your tongue.