Well, this is an easy recipe but it’s not quick. You’ll need to wait a month for the finished result. Have a go anyway – or wait and see how mine turn out first, I’ll report back in a month. You know those little pink onions you get in Indian restaurants while you’re waiting for your meal to arrive? This is how to do it.

The following recipe comes from the Sensational Preserves book (page 45) by Hilaire Walden with photography by David Gill. It contains recipes (and mouth-watering photos) for jams, chutneys, jellies and sauces in a variety of cuisines. Perhaps I’ll do a review of the book later – meanwhile, let’s get on with these little pink beauties.

Indian Pickled Onions

The red wine vinegar in this recipe turns the onions pink. To make peeling the onions a bit easier, cut off the root and tip ends, pour boiling water over them, and leave them for a minute or so, then drain and rinse quickly under running cold water. Use a stainless steel knife to avoid discolouration.

Ingredients

Makes about 1.1 litres/ 2 pints

• 450g/1 lb pickling onions
  [I used a bunch of small Thai shallots. The bunch started off weighing over 500g but by the time I'd discarded the tops and roots and the skins, they only weighed about 350g]
• 50g/2 oz sea salt
  [I had some pink Himalayan rock salt, which I'd bought as a curiosity, so I used that instead]
• 450ml/16 fl oz red wine vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 dried red chillies
  [My dried chillies were monster-sized but we like spicy food so I bunged 'em in seeds and all]

Method

Cut a deep cross from the top to the bottom of the onion but leave them attached to the base. [I didn't really "get" this as I'd already cut off the tip and the base. I didn't make any crosses.]

Dissolve the salt in 570 ml/1 pint water in a non-metallic bowl, then add the onions, cover and leave for one day at room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Drain and rinse onions thoroughly, then dry well on paper towels. [Dunno why you have to use paper towels, I just used a cloth tea towel.] Pack the onions into a 1.1 litre/2 pint jar. [No packing involved for me even though I was only using a 1 litre jar.] If there are too many onions, they may be reserved and used in cooking.

Mix together the vinegar, garlic and chillies and pour over the onions to cover them completely. [Nah. Don't do it that way, you'll get the chillies and garlic all at the top. Mix 'em in with the onions first. Then put in the jar. Then pour the vinegar over it.] If the onions float [mine didn't], put crumpled greaseproof paper in the jar to keep the onions submerged. Swivel the jar to expel any air, then cover with vinegar-proof lids and seal. Store in a cool, dark, dry place for 1 month before eating.

Hmm, maybe you’d better follow the instructions properly or wait a month to see how mine turn out.

A friend sent me a link to a story about Delia Smith in her local paper, Norwich’s Eastern Daily Press:
Delia: Television wants celebrities rather than proper cooking

My jaw dropped when I saw it. Proper cooking? Is that what you call tinned mince and frozen mashed potatoes? According to the article, Delia’s days on the small screen looked as though they were over, after her latest series Through The Decades finished…

But now, to the relief of all those who hanker after sensible, practical cookery, it’s been announced Delia will be back on TV before Easter – in a new series of commercials for upmarket food store Waitrose.

And then there’s this bit about ready meals:

And she has ready meals in her sights: “Ideally, I’d like to help wean people off them. There’s something quite sad about them – and they don’t taste anywhere near as good as cooking for yourself from scratch.”

Cooking from scratch? That doesn’t exactly tie in with what she’s got on her own website.

Here’s Delia’s recipe for a very quick moussaka. Note well the list of ingredients, which include:

• 1 x 425g tin minced lamb (preferably Marks & Spencer)
• 1 x 300g pack vegetable ratatouille (preferably Marks & Spencer)
• 1 x 300g tub ready-made cheese sauce
• 1 tablespoon ready-grated Parmesan cheese

Oops, it looks like she’s recommending M&S products. Oh well, perhaps her new paymasters Waitrose won’t mind. As for tinned mince, urgh! I don’t even buy mince – I make it myself. A pack of vegetable ratatouille? I can’t really comment as I’ve no idea what such a thing would be like. I’d just take a few Mediterranean vegetables, chop ’em up and saute them and add a tomato-based sauce. Ready-made cheese sauce? Why? It’s not hard to make – you just add grated cheddar to a white sauce. And ready-grated Parmesan? That stuff usually smells like spew. What’s so hard about using some freshly grated? Very easy, especially if you have the right kit.

Having said all that, I do (for a change) totally agree with something Delia Smith said: “There’s something quite sad about them – and they don’t taste anywhere near as good as cooking for yourself from scratch.”

But how she can reconcile that statement with tinned mince and shop-bought cheese sauce is totally beyond my comprehension.

In the article, Delia goes on to say:

“Now television companies just seem interested in personality and celebrities, rather than proper, easy-to-follow cooking. It’s all about entertainment – they just seem to want it sexed up. I’m seen as boring!”

It’s about proper food, Delia. We don’t want everything to be sexed up. We just want proper food. Ainsley Harriott, for example, is a perfect example of how you can make delicious meals in minutes – FROM SCRATCH! See Gourmet Express or Ready Steady Cook. Yeah, I know I’m a huge fan of his but I think he’s undervalued as a chef because of his, often too silly, funny man approach. Ainsley is a seriously good chef, don’t let him kid you otherwise.

Delia then burbles on about Norwich City, home cooking and the evils of food technology – despite apparently appearing with Heston Blumenthal for some of the Waitrose adverts.

And finally there’s this little gem:

“The recession has done home cooking a lot of good. I think some people are beginning to realise that it’s amazing how much cheaper it can be to buy fresh ingredients and cook for yourself.”

Words fail me.

Any comments? Let’s be ’avin’ yew!

Test your foodie knowledge with our quick quiz. Only five questions but fiendishly difficult, we think. Have fun!

1. Who was the voice of Tony the Tiger (Frosties character) for more than five decades?
   1. John E Matthews
   2. Thurl Ravenscroft
   3. Tom Clarke-Hill
   4. Antonio Ponto
2. A kakadu is a type of what?
   1. Casserole pot
   2. Knife
   3. Fish
   4. Fruit
3. According to its official website, in 2010 the Roux family’s restaurant, The Waterside Inn, was awarded three Michelin stars for the ???th year?
   1. 15
   2. 20
   3. 25
   4. 30
4. Where is the Golden Spurtle (world porridge making championship) held each year?
   1. Carrbridge, Inverness-shire
   2. Aberdeen
   3. Portree, Skye
   4. Edinburgh
5. In 2006 Heston Blumenthal was awarded an honorary degree by which university?
   1. Essex
   2. Westminster
   3. Reading
   4. Kent

   You can have a bonus point if you can name the university which awarded him an honorary degree in 2007. (Not necessarily named above.)

Check the answers here