Making Simple Pickles to Serve with Cured Meats

Why a Good Pickle Earns Its Place

A board of cured meats is a study in richness. Salami, prosciutto, coppa and bresaola bring fat, salt and a deep, savoury intensity that is enormously satisfying for the first few slices — and then, quite suddenly, it isn't. What the palate starts asking for is contrast. Something sharp, something cold, something that snaps between the teeth.

That is the job of a pickle. Not a complicated one, and not an expensive one. A jar of quick-pickled shallots, a handful of crunchy gherkins and a tangle of vinegary red cabbage will do more for a plate of charcuterie than any chutney or fig jam. They cut, they cleanse, and they keep you coming back for another slice. Better still, all three can be made in an ordinary kitchen with ingredients from the corner shop.

Quick-Pickled Shallots: The Ten-Minute Job

If you make only one thing, make this. Banana shallots are easiest to slice, but the small round ones are sweeter and just as good.

• 5 banana shallots, peeled and sliced into thin rings
• 150ml white wine vinegar and 100ml water
• 2 tsp caster sugar, 1 tsp fine sea salt
• A few black peppercorns and a bay leaf

Warm the vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a small pan until the sugar dissolves — no need to boil. Pack the shallots into a clean jar with the peppercorns and bay, pour the warm brine over, and press them down so everything is covered. They will be ready in 30 minutes and will turn a startling, translucent pink within a day. Kept in the fridge, they last three to four weeks. Red onion works exactly the same way and costs less, though it is a little more aggressive.

Gherkins That Actually Crunch

Soft gherkins are a tragedy, and they are almost always caused by skipping the salt. Do this first: slice 1kg of small ridge cucumbers into quarters lengthways, toss with 2 tbsp fine salt, and leave them in a colander for an hour or two. Rinse and pat dry. This draws out water so the brine stays strong and the flesh stays firm.

Pack the cucumbers into jars with dill, a couple of peeled garlic cloves and a teaspoon of yellow mustard seeds. Then make the brine:

• 300ml white wine vinegar or distilled malt vinegar
• 200ml water, 1 tbsp salt, 2 tsp sugar

Pour it over cold, seal, and refrigerate. They are edible after three days and at their best after a week. Never pour boiling brine over cucumbers if you want crunch — heat is the enemy here. Kept cold, they hold for about a month.

Pickled Red Cabbage: The Slow Burner

This one needs a day, so plan ahead. Shred one small red cabbage as finely as you can — a mandoline helps — then massage in 1 tbsp salt and leave it for an hour. Rinse well and squeeze dry in a clean tea towel.

For the brine, warm 400ml cider vinegar, 200ml water, 3 tbsp caster sugar and 1 tsp salt with a few juniper berries, a bay leaf, a clove and a strip of orange peel. Pack the cabbage into jars, pour the warm brine over, and refrigerate. It is ready in 24 hours, distinctly better after a week, and keeps for six weeks. The colour alone is worth the effort.

Getting the Balance Right

Once you have made these a few times, you can stop measuring. The formula is roughly two parts vinegar to one part water, with 1 tsp salt per 200ml of liquid and sugar to taste. Vinegar choice matters more than people expect: white wine vinegar for shallots, cider vinegar for cabbage, and a plain distilled malt vinegar for gherkins, where a bolder, more old-fashioned tang is exactly what you want. Avoid balsamic and sherry vinegars here — they are too sweet and too dark for this job.

Serving, Storing and the Board Itself

Drain your pickles before they go on the plate. A spoonful of brine bleeding into the ham is not the effect you are after. Serve them in small ramekins so they stay separate from the meat and the bread, and let them come up slightly from fridge-cold — the flavours open out.

On pairings: the shallots are made for prosciutto and other thinly sliced, delicate hams. The gherkins want fat — salami, coppa, anything spiced and generous. The red cabbage is the one for bresaola, rillettes or a coarse country pâté, where its sweetness and acid have something substantial to push against.

Store everything in glass jars in the fridge, always keeping the produce submerged under the brine, and use a clean fork each time you dip in. Made like this, a few jars will carry you through months of good eating — and no one will ever describe your charcuterie as heavy again.