Pickled new-season garlic

Fresh new season garlic is sweeter and less pungent than dried. The cloves aren't completely formed and have soft skin so they are easy to peel, and you can just prize them apart and pickle them as they are. I broke up about 6-8 bulbs and pickled the biggest cloves, saving all the bits and small cloves for the soup below. You can eat pickled new season garlic as you would onions - it's quite mild and won't overpower the food or your mates.

Fresh new season garlic is sweeter and less pungent than dried. The cloves aren't completely formed and have soft skin so they are easy to peel, and you can just prize them apart and pickle them as they are. I broke up about 6-8 bulbs and pickled the biggest cloves, saving all the bits and small cloves for the soup below. You can eat pickled new season garlic as you would onions - it's quite mild and won't overpower the food or your mates.

3-4 bulbs of new-season, fresh garlic
600-700ml of good quality white-wine vinegar and maybe a little more
3tsp sugar
20 white peppercorns
2tsp black mustard seeds

Remove the long green stem from the garlic and reserve for the soup below or chop up and pickle it with the rest of the cloves. Separate the cloves from the bulb, removing any membrane as you separate them and again reserving these soft skins for the soup. Pack the cloves into Kilner-type jars, but not too full. Divide the peppercorns and mustard seeds between the jars, mix the sugar with the vinegar and pour into the jars to cover the cloves. The garlic will absorb some vinegar over a few days, so will need topping up with a little more vinegar. Leave for six weeks before you eat the pickle.