Samphire (Bacile or Perce-pierre)

The "Queen" Cookery Books. No.10. Veg... · S. Beaty-Pownall · 1902
Source
The "Queen" Cookery Books. No.10. Vegerable
Status
success · extracted 4 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (9)
for pickling
for preserving
Instructions (17)
  1. Gather samphire in May, or before it flowers. Choose the greenest.
  2. Lay samphire in a pan with 3-4 tbsp salt.
  3. Pour in enough cold water to cover.
  4. Let steep for 24 hours.
  5. Drain off water.
  6. Lay samphire in a large copper pan with 1 tbsp salt.
  7. Cover pan closely.
  8. Cook over a very slow fire until crisp and green.
  9. Remove from heat immediately to prevent softening.
  10. Pack at once in a jar, cover, and when cold, fasten cover tightly.
Another way
  1. Prepare samphire as before (gather, wash, steep, drain).
  2. Dry carefully in a clean cloth.
  3. Lay into jars.
  4. Pour over sufficient boiling white wine vinegar (previously boiled with ginger, mace, and whole pepper) to cover.
  5. Let stand until cold.
  6. Cover down tightly and store.
  7. Ready for use in a fortnight.
Original Text · last edited 4 days ago
Samphire (Bacile or Perce-pierre).—This plant grows wild all along the sea coast, and has been held in honour as a pickle for generations—to such a point that other plants somewhat like it have been substituted for it when the supply of samphire ran short; but as these substitutes are not as aromatic as the real plant, this adulteration for some time brought the original into disrepute. But once the real samphire has been seen and tasted (the raw fleshy leaves have a salty, spicy taste), it is easy to distinguish. It should be gathered in May, or, at all events, before the flower begins to show, for after that it becomes hard and stringy. Choose the greenest samphire, and lay it in a pan with three or four table- spoonfuls of salt over it, then pour in sufficient cold water to cover it, and let it steep for twenty-four hours. Now drain off the water, and lay the samphire in a large copper pan with a good tablespoonful of salt, cover the pan down closely, and let it cook over a very slow fire till it is quite crisp and green; then lift it off at once, for if allowed to stay on the fire till it softens it is spoiled. Pack it at once in a jar, cover it, and, when cold, fasten this cover down tightly. Another way is to prepare the samphire as before, but when drained from the steeping water, dry carefully in a clean cloth, lay it into jars, and pour over it sufficient boiling white wine vinegar (previously boiled with a small amount of ginger, mace, and whole pepper) to cover it, let it stand till cold, then cover down tightly, and store. This will be ready for use in a fortnight.
Notes
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