Pickled turnips..

Beautiful, vibrant pink pickled turnips are a very typical sight on any Lebanese table. Any Lebanese meal will include a plate of pickles, and would usually include these, so of course, I had to make some! If you have ever eaten a shawarma or a falafel sandwich in the Middle East, you will probably have eaten these as part of it, they are an integral part of the whole wonderful taste sensation. 

I literally had no idea how the turnips become pink, the answer is all to obvious once you know it: beetroot. One beetroot generates so much colour that that is all that is needed to create the pink colour. And when you put the jar together, it’s happen so fast, you can literally see the colour spreading!!! 

I used a recipe from a cookbook which I won’t reproduce here, but you can find endless versions online. You need a basic pickling juice (vinegar, water, salt), some turnips, and a beetroot. Peel and chop the turnips and the beetroot (wear gloves for the beetroot unless you want to be pink for days) into batons, then start packing it all into a jar. You can add garlic, chillies, bay leaves, whatever takes your fancy, then watch the magic happen..

All chopped up and ready for the liquid..

As soon as you pour it in, the beetroot colour starts to spread..

This was less than an hour later! 

I put the jar in a dark cool place and left it..by the next morning. The colour had intensified..

Surrounded by my beloved pots of tahini!! 

I left the turnips for a week before trying them. By then they were completely pink, and each piece had a softness and a crunch, and lots of flavour..

Now I’m just working my way through them..why can’t I ever make small batches of anything???

Am I officially Lebanese yet?! 😉