2 hours ago
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What’s the best way to preserve late-summer fruit and veg?
Jess, by email
Fruit, fruit everywhere, so try fermenting it in honey, says Rachel de Thample, author of The Fermentation Year (published in September). “I’m currently looking at a jar of blackberries, but whole plums would be gorgeous, too,” she says, especially when eaten with blue cheese – “or any cheese, really” – meat or fish; you can also use the syrup like maple syrup or cordial. De Thample packs the fruit into sterilised jars and pours in just enough honey to cover it: “If the fruit has a low acidity, add a spoonful of lemon juice or a splash of cider vinegar as well.” Pop on the lid and leave for a few weeks. “It gets fizzy, but it doesn’t get to that explosive stage, because it has quite a concentrated sugar content. It’ll keep for up to a year at room temperature, but I normally pop it in the fridge after a few weeks.”
Kimchi is another option to keep Jess enjoying summer fruits all year round. “In Korea, apples and pears are traditional, but there’s a kimchi for every season and region,” says De Thample, who takes a British approach with a courgette, blackcurrant and strawberry number: “You can use up tomatoes in the paste, too.” Otherwise, if you have plums and damsons, take inspiration from Japanese umeboshi: “That has a high percentage of salt – I use 15% per 100g fruit. Layer the salt and plums in jars and, if it’s really dry, pour over water; otherwise, just crush a couple of the plums so their juices create a brine with the salt.” The brine can then be used like a plummy soy sauce, De Thample says: “Having a few jars stored away always makes me feel like I’m winning.” Damsons are also a dream in flavoured liquors, says Kenji Morimoto, regular Guardian contributor and author of Ferment: “That’s a really nice way to capture their flavour, and all you need is vodka, the fruit and rock [or granulated] sugar.
Cheong, a Korean form of maceration, will also prolong the goodbyes, Morimoto says. “It’s an easy concept: you want equal parts sugar and fruit, then let that sit, stirring occasionally, and you’ll end up with this candied fruit and a delicious syrup, or just a delicious syrup.” That’s good for glazing tarts, spooning over ice-cream or drizzling over cakes, and in cocktails, as well as for adding a balancing sweetness to savoury dishes such as stews.
Otherwise, Morimoto would bring “a bite of effervescence and briny tang” to the winter dearth by making lacto-fermented cherry tomatoes, which he stores and uses chopped in grain bowls and salsas, and in pasta and other savoury sauces. And there aren’t many summer vegetables that won’t taste great pickled, though courgettes in a classic sweet vinegar brine should be high on Jess’s list. “In many ways, courgettes are better to pickle than cucumbers, because they retain that crunch,” Morimoto says, so slice them, salt them, drain them, then add the brine. “You can then take them in any flavour direction you fancy: mustard seeds, fennel seeds and celery seeds; soy sauce, ginger and garlic; dill and allspice.”
Whichever route you go down is sure to get you out of a pickle come autumn.
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