Pickles and Preserves
By Belinda Hawkins
Shafts of light cascade along Liz's driveway to help members of the Pickles and Preserves group find their way to her kitchen table. Elvis, the family’s golden retriever, jumps around with excitement as the cars start arriving. Turns out with good reason.
The monthly gathering of locals has been going since 2022 and is one of Shoreham's best kept secrets. Members take turns hosting, so it’s at a different house each time.
"We're a community of food lovers who enjoy pickling, fermenting, bottling and dehydrating a wide range of ingredients, and we meet in members' homes," Liz said.
But as someone who gets flash backs to cramming for final year high school exams every time I look at a bench-load of raw ingredients, this gathering sounded like something which could well shatter my confidence in the kitchen completely.
Then Liz said the group was like a book club but with food. That was it, I wanted to know more and went along to the September session.
The theme for the night was the letter P.
Drink in hand, the attendees pulled out what they'd made and sat around the table. One by one they introduced their fare.
There was a pea soup made with chervil and buttermilk and served in tiny mugs, a piccalilli made with home grown cauliflower, pickled peppers, a pineapple chutney using sherry vinegar rather than the red one the recipe requested, a pear butter made with whole vanilla pods and served on a pikelet, and stewed pears, among other delights.
Some stretch the boundaries of the designated letter with heart warming backstories.
Susie's friend Peter Hall, a longstanding and much loved local, died recently.
She had a tradition of making marmalade from his tangelo tree. After his funeral she harvested some, made the marmalade using a recipe she’d picked up from another member, called it Peter's Marmalade, and took jars over to his family, keeping one for tonight.
After each “dish” was served the table discussed the ingredients, the texture, the taste and swapped tips with a generosity of spirit that was just as soul restoring as the food.
Laughter warmed the room as the conversation moved from anecdotes about family mealtimes, to what members had learnt about food from their parents, to what last minute near catastrophes they'd had in preparing for the gathering.
"The test is whether the marmalade is still warm when you turn up," Gina said.
"My chutney has definitely matured,' said Lee with a straight face. "I've had it in the fridge since yesterday."
The next gathering is on 14 October at 7pm. Newcomers are welcome!
Keep in an eye on the events section of our website to find out where it is to be held.
Or email shorehamcommunity@gmail.com for details.
