Passata, sauces, jams, marmalades, syrups, juices, homemade canning fruit, and pickles. There were also giardiniera and sweet and sour red onions. And au naturel cherry tomatoes or long tomatoes close into jars with just a few basil leaves.
Decades have passed since, season after season, production was mostly homemade.
The home pantry was rich and well-stocked.
Going to keep a jar in the home cellar was an absolute pleasure.
I loved admiring the variety neatly arranged on the shelves, the colors of the jars, and smelling the scents that filled the cellar.
Sweet and sour onions and fruit syrup season
Once upon a time, there was time to make the things that manufacturers and industry are concerned with today.
For some years now, I have recovered the pleasure of making some of the jars I remember from childhood. And thanks to this, the world seemed a wonderful place. And the cellar at home was a magical room.
I work with little quantities of products because I have a small pantry. And also the time is just that of the weekend. But every time I recover flavors and memories, I feel a happiness that takes me back in time and makes me feel good.
I remember, for example, that once upon a time, you didn’t put 1k of fruit to cook with 1kg of sugar. No way. The women remembered the privations of the Second World War and considered sugar a precious commodity to use sparingly.
To make jams, they used to follow another, older method.
First, the fruit cooked without sugar. Then the pulp was drained from the liquid, weighed, and only then did you add sugar, cooking the jam for as long as needed. For this reason, some people still remember preserves as less sweet than today.
With the liquid obtained from the cooking of the fruit, my grandam used to make syrups. With or without sugar, and sometimes mixed with alcohol. The boiling liquid ended up in small bottles, like juices, ready for use.
Cherry syrup or plum syrup is perfect for making sweet-and-sour red onions. Their characteristic taste makes them foolproof to be served with roasts or boiled meats alongside a plate of butter-glossy boiled potatoes.
At home, nonna used to mix wine vinegar with one part of natural fruit syrup to aromatize it. I prefer apple cider vinegar. Before eating sweet and sour red onions, let them sit in the pantry for a few months.
Sweet and sour red onions are perfect to accompany a pork roast (HERE find the recipe for glazed pork loin), roast beef (have you tried my lemon version?), and, of course, boiled meat.
Buona cucina, Monica
Cook with me
HERE you will find the recipe for cherry syrup, the sweet version. You can use the recipe as a base to make your favorite fruit syrup.
Of the love for the home cellar as a magical and cozy place, I talked about it HERE, where you can find the recipe for making juices as good as they used to be.
Food tip
You can flavor the vinegar with your favorite fruit syrup but choose a flavor that goes well with cherries. In addition to cherries and plums, you can use raspberry juice.
Sweet and sour red onions recipe
some jars
List of the Ingredients
red onions, 1 kg
cherry or plum juice, 300 ml
apple cider vinegar, 100 ml
water, 500 ml
sugar, 150 g
fine salt, 20 g
laurel leaves, 5
Method
Vinegar flavored with fruit juice
Wash 100 g of fruit and place in a saucepan with 400 ml of water.
Cook for about 20 minutes, turn off, let cool, and strain.
Alternatively, you can use ready-made unsweetened syrup.
Now peel and slice the onions.
Place the sliced onions in the jars, leaving an inch from the rim.
In a pot, combine all the liquid ingredients, and add sugar, salt, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and pour the boiling marinade over the onions using a dipper.
Close jars with lids, put a bay leaf in each bottle, turn upside down, and let cool.
Store for several months in the pantry before consuming.
