Pickled Radis Noir

A couple of months ago, Hank Shaw was seeking ideas for the use of radis noir, which is ubiquitous on market tables here in Lyon at the end of winter. I immediately suggested pickles, since I had some experience with simple pickled spring radishes and knew that this type of root generally takes kindly to a vinegar pickling method. The next time I was out with my basket, I decided to give pickling them a try with a couple of big ones wedged into chunks. Coriander seeds harvested last autumn from my garden, whole fennel seeds and bay leaves went into the jar, along with a handful of shallots which I simply peeled and left whole. I wasn't very enthusiastic about the results at first, since the roots seeped some of their color and gave a drab tint to the vinegar. I placed the jar alongside many other half done experiments in a cool place and forgot about it for a while.

It's funny what a little time can do. About a week ago, I realized that these pickles had taken on a nice mellow flavor. At the opening of salad season, I was fishing around for additions to my lunch bowls and suddenly I was looking at these now mature pickles in a new light. I have found that slicing them thin and sprinkling them over salads is one delicious way to enjoy them, as well as using them to garnish toasts and canapes with potted meat and slices of dried sausage. They are excellent slivered and folded into Caviar de la Croix Rousse. They add crisp punctuation and look pretty too. This jar is almost halfway gone and I don't suspect they'll last very much longer. They came out tasting so nice, I think I'll do two jars next year.

When you pickle radis noir, be sure to give them a very good scrub with a potato brush and blanch them whole before slicing them into chunks and salting them. Otherwise, the recipe and method are the same as this one here.