In Good Taste #26: Pickle Brine & Pomegranate Braised Red Cabbage
A Christmas-appropriate side dish; gift guide part two; Noises Off and farce
Well, hello there! How are you?
Good I hope. Thank you so much for being here.
(Not up for the chitchat? Completely get it. Click the email title to go to a web-based version then jump straight to the recipe, the gift guide or Cultural Fun.)
I’m well and definitely into the festive swing of things now. I cooked the Christmas Lunch Club at Hornsey Vale Community Centre on Wednesday. Turkey/nut roast and all the trimmings for 72 followed by Christmas pudding. It was slightly hectic but a really joyous occasion, complete with steel band. Sterling work by the HVCA staff and volunteers in terms of serving and washing up too.
There were a gratifying number of compliments about the food, particularly the Christmas puddings. At least half a dozen people told me it was the best they ever had!
It is tedious but true that a successful Christmas dinner is all in the planning. This week’s recipe is a great get-ahead dish. You can make it now and put it in the freezer then it only needs heating through to serve, something you can do in the microwave since hob space is likely at a premium…
I know everyone’s essential Christmas dishes vary. We can all agree (more or less) on roasties, parsnips and sprouts but after that things diverge. My in-laws do mashed potatoes as well as roast which is nice but seems inessential to me: extra work in an already labour-intensive meal. It’s not too controversial though. I know others who insist that cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire puddings or even tinned sweetcorn (?!) be part of the feast.
So I’m not saying it’s 100% essential but I really like braised red cabbage. Partly because Christmas dinner can tend to the beige so it’s the veg that adds a splash of colour. But also for a bit of acidity. I’m not a huge fan of cranberry sauce (it’s fine but I can’t get excited about it) so I find the sweet-sour notes of this cabbage add something more interesting with which to cut through all the fat.
Recipe: Pickle Brine & Pomegranate Braised Red Cabbage
Serves at least 8 as part of a Christmas spread
I suggest making this now and putting it in the freezer, then it only needs heating through on the day. And garnishing with pomegranate seeds if you feel particularly fancy.
Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 juniper berries, bruised/lightly squashed
2 star anise
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 red cabbage, shredded
200ml pickle brine (see notes)
50ml pomegranate molasses
50g sugar
Handful pomegranate seeds to serve (optional)
Method
Put a large, heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the butter, oil and onion along with a couple of tablespoons of water and a pinch of salt. Let sweat until soft, sweet and translucent.
Add the juniper berries and spices and cook for a minute.
Add the cabbage and stir until it is evenly coated in the oil and butter and all nice and shiny.
Add the brine, pomegranate molasses and sugar and mix well. Taste and season with salt (how much you need will depend on your brine).
Bring to a simmer and cook for 45 mins - 1 hour, stirring regularly so it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan. Taste and adjust the flavour to your liking with more salt, sugar, brine, molasses or even some vinegar. The cabbage should be soft but with a little bite left and the liquid should have reduced to a small a mount of sweet-tart syrup coating the cabbage.
Serve immediately, scattered with the pomegranate seeds if desired. Or else set aside until needed. It will keep in the fridge for up to a week and is actually better for a rest. Or freezes well too. Reheat to serve.
Notes (If Ifs And Ands Were Pots And Pans…)
I used the brine from a batch of pink pickled turnips but you can use whatever you have or substitute for half vinegar, half water. Pickle brine will vary in acidity so you might want to add some extra acid in any case. Red wine or cider vinegar would be my choice.
I garnished with a few of the pickled turnips, sliced thinly, alongside pomegranate seeds. Which was nice for extra pops of acidity and crunch. Beetroot would be good here too. But I’m less sure about other pickles - I’m not sure dill cucumbers have a place at the Christmas table.
Obviously if you’re cooking for vegans, substitute the butter for more oil.
Gift Guide Part 2
Following my suggestions the other week, here’s a few more things that might make nice presents for the food lover in your life:
A hamper (from £150) from the Tinned Fish Market would make a delicious and useful contrast to all the sweet edibles that are gifted at this time of year. Or, even better, a subscription (from £58 for three months)! Premium tuna, sardines, shellfish and more from Spain, Portugal and Scandinavia are nautical miles away from the tins you get in the supermarket and beautiful to look at too. Having a few of these in the cupboard is a boon for easy WFH lunches.
People who cook a lot of meat, whether in the oven or on the barbecue would love a Meater wireless thermomenter (from £63). Internal temperature is the only way to truly know if meat is cooked accurately. This small and stylish device connects to an app and will tell you when things are done to perfection. James got me one for Christmas a few years ago and it’s a game-changer. A Thermapen temperature probe (from £69) is a slightly less whizzy but more versatile gadget. Serious home cooks would thank you for either.
I was going to suggest that some tableware from Jess Jos would make a nice present but sadly her entire range of timeless, tactile bowls, plates and cups is sold out. But for anyone clay-curious and based in London I can really recommend a gift voucher for a private class (£150). Jess is such a good teacher. I’ve been on a couple of courses with her and I always learn and improve so much. Can’t wait to go back in April!
Most of the things on this list (and the previous one) are things I have and can personally vouch for but this is something that I covet and suspect other people who love both food and baubles would too. Wolf & Moon have a whole range of fruit-and-veg themed jewellery. I particularly love the chillies and radishes (available individually from £38 or as part of this mix-and-match set, £102). Or the figs (from £42) are delightful too. Just look at those little seeds!
I am also, obviously going to suggest that vouchers for my private fermentation and pasta classes (from £199 for two people). When you order you’ll get a voucher by email that you can print out or forward on or drop me a line and I’ll pop something physical in the post.
Cultural Fun
We went to see Noises Off last night. It was a last minute thing via one of those seat-filling agencies. Only £6 each! Although we paid almost as much again for an ice cream in the interval…
Apparently this year is the 40th anniversary of Michael Frayn’s play-within-a-play meta-farce. I remember my father took me to see it more than 20 years ago and I laughed until it hurt. So I was curious to see whether it still stood up.
It’s a piece that relies on the cast having impeccable timing and good physical comedy chops and they all did (especially Matthew Horne) but somehow it wasn’t quite spot on. I laughed a lot but not as much as in 2001 but it’s hard to know why. You couldn’t point to any particular joke and say: “that’s dated”. But perhaps farce itself just can’t feel modern? These days we have the comedy of embarrassment instead - bluffing in the face of social awkwardness instead of trouser-losing panic?
I got a bit waylaid on my readers-block foiling plan to work backwards along my shelves of fiction. Having allowed one bit of re-reading, I got soft on myself and allowed another, picking up Frankie & Stankie by Barbara Trapido.
Trapido is one of my all-time favourite novelists, someone whose work I return to again and again. Her books represent my idea of the perfect novel. Or at least the perfect novel-reading experience. Her literate, romantic characters are incredibly real but slightly heightened. She creates tangible, every day worlds you can really inhabit. They are books not just to curl up with but curl up in.
I have read Brother of the More Famous Jack, Noah's Ark, Temples of Delight, Juggling and The Travelling Hornplayer multiple times each. But I’ve only read Frankie & Stankie once so thought I would revisit and was glad I did. Although, since it’s set in South Africa from the 1950s onwards, it’s pretty bleak at times. Highly autobiographical but written in an almost dialogue-free constant present tense, F&S tells the story of the country’s inhumane race laws at the same time as it tells of Trapido’s proxy, sensitive, arty Dinah.
When I finished, I inevitably started reading all her other books too. And not just as a way of postponing moving leftwards towards Tolstoy…
Bye! See you soon!
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In Good Taste is a Sycamore Smyth newsletter by me, Clare Heal.
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