Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, or so the tongue-twister goes.

I sometimes have wondered what kind of peppers was ol’ Peter picking. Some pickled peppers are really delicious, others really, really hot. Also, in metric terms how much is a peck?

Recently we received various vegetables from friends and neighbours who were sharing their summer garden’s bounty. We are always appreciative of any such offerings. And so, it came to pass that I noticed a bag (1. I’d been out of town for a few days, and 2. I’m forgetful) of green peppers in our fridge. I didn’t think too much about it but I knew that between my wife and myself we’d find a use for the peppers soon. Last night I happened to catch a bit of one of Jamie Oliver’s TV cooking shows where he was making pickles.

Now, I’ve been making pickles for a long time. Growing up in a Ukrainian family, pickles were a regular part of my diet. Once grown up I’ve come think that there are pickle people and non-pickle people, and to the people in the latter group, sorry, but you’re missing out on one of the simplest treasures in the food world. One of the first recipes I had to nail down (through telephone calls, mail, and e-mail) once I’d moved to Japan was my mother’s recipes for cucumber pickles. It’s second nature to me now though I admit my repertoire isn’t as big as it could be.

Back to the Jamie Oliver cooking show, what caught me off-hand was his use of oil for the pickling medium. My pickles usually only use a salt/water/vinegar pickling brine and this has served me well for years. But, I’m open to learning new techniques.

So, this afternoon I made a jar of pickled peppers. I’ve no idea how they taste but I can’t wait to find out. They should sit for a couple of weeks for the flavours to mix and mingle. I may have to sneak a taste before then; we’ll see if I have a strong or weak willpower.