Sunday, January 25, 2009

Pickling liquid

Its almost 4am, and i will elaborate later on this but i thought it very important to get out there to whoever is reading this. I have never worked in a restaurant where we ever kept the pickling liquid for anything after its initial purpose. Wow, what a waste of so many vinegars and flavour. 
I have been doing so much with leftover pickling liquid. For one it makes a great salad dressing. especially if its pickled onions. I will bump up the flavour and repickle the same type of veg, take liquid thats pickled beets and heat it up and pour it over celery, i take gherkin liquid and pickle my ox tongues after braising them and vac packing them while hot. i even have a container with pickling liquid i have no current use for that just keeps on collecting left overs....Not only does it save money which eventually saves the customer money but its a great way to develop flavor. Eventually it will be like a 100 yr old sourdough culture that passes on to the next batch. 
After this find, its made me seriously look at the possibilities of things before they go into the garbage or down the drain. 

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm reading this! And it's funny you should say that, because until you commented on my blog, I assumed nobody was reading it either.

I couldn't wait until I got home to sit by the fire and read, so I've been sneaking peaks on my breaks at work.

Your work is amazing. It's so refreshing to finally see someone who shares the knowledge instead of hoarding it like a hermit. The community overall is enriched when people open up and share specialties.

I'll undoubtedly try a few of your recipes at home sooner or later, but having been to the Hoof already, I know there's no way I'd give up coming in and having the overall experience just because I could make a few things at home.

Keep up the great work! The Everyman and I are rooting for you!

pj

mr.sharp-photo said...

my only issue would be if the pickling liquid was full of nitrates and preservatives...wouldn't want that as a salad dressing.

Unknown said...

richard,

i'm not talking about pickling brines, like reusing pastrami brines etc....
im talking about water/vinegar/sugar/salt solutions

bob mcgee said...

Grant
I'm down with the pickling liquid. I'm working a pretty big brewpub in Portland, Oregon,
and go through roughly 14 gallons of different vinegars a week. They're great balancing flavors or adding punch to just about anything.
One of my prep guys from Oaxaca
swears by it chilled to remedy hangovers
I truly enjoy your writing, thanx for it
bob