Fennel & Orange Pickle for the Feast of St Stephen

I am an inveterate maker of pickles, chutneys and preserves. However I am very poor at labelling the contents, always thinking I will remember what each jar is. I rarely can. You can’t blame your prospective date for looking suspiciously at something you’ve made but cannot definitively name.

750g Fennel

568ml Distilled vinegar (odd amount but it’s the size bottle Sarson’s comes in)
1 Orange
2 Star Anise
1 tsp mustard seeds
75g Preserving sugar

½ tsp salt

First a word on the vinegar – don’t worry too much about the amount if you can’t find Sarson’s, or the exact volume. I imagine this is a 30 year old hangover from our late conversion to metric, though it does seem stingy that they didn’t add a measly 2 more ml to round it up. Anyway the other advantage of using Sarson’s is that the jar is the right size to keep these pickles in.

Trim the fennel and thickly slice it. Blanch it for a minute or so and refresh under cold water. Halve the orange and slice it and place it in the jar with the fennel.

Put the vinegar in a pan over a low heat. By the way this vinegar is distilled so it should be clear not brown. Run back to the shops if it isn’t. Add the sugar, mustard seed, salt and star anise and boil for 5 minutes.

Cool it and pour over the fennel and orange slices. Seal the jar and leave in a dark place for 1 month (though I dare say if you make it soon it will be nice enough by Boxing Day). It lives in the fridge thereafter.

This is brilliant for cutting through fatty cold meat, such as salami or corned beef. Also good with cheddar cheese. I once served up a plate of cold cuts for an Essex boy I was dating, called David. “Meats!” he said. “I like that!” Sadly he skirted around this pickle but he was definitely missing out. The relationship didn’t last…

The Greeks thought Fennel was slimming and Culpeper praised it for its aid to eyesight. I’m not as slim as I'd like to be, and I wear glasses though I’ve been making this for years. But it is delicious and it would be lovely to open a jar of something home made with cold leftovers after Christmas. It’s as crisp and refreshing as a new year’s resolution.