Pickled cucumbers

Method

1. Use small, firm pickling cucumbers picked no more than a day before. Scrub them and leave them in cold water for a couple of hours.
2. Pack them upright into clean jars with a sprig of dill, a clove of garlic and some peppercorns and mustard seeds.
3. Bring the water, vinegar, sugar and salt to the boil and pour the hot brine over the vegetables to the brim, so they are fully covered.
4. Close the jars and pasteurise them in a pan of water at 80 to 85 °C, 15 do 20 minutes for 720 ml jars. The cucumbers are best after three to four weeks.

When to make it

Best: July and August. Possible: June, July, August, and September.

October: Out of season.

How we count

1 kg (Cucumber) makes about 1.7 l.

A 720 ml jar holds about 420 g of small cucumbers and 300 ml of brine, so a kilogram of cucumbers fills about 1.7 litres of jars. The vinegar is 9% spirit vinegar.