I do think that the recipe does need safety modifications. The use of rock salt, would be picking salt. The malt vinegar, must be at least 5% acidity, as well as being sufficient enough as the only added liquid. Corn flour is plain corn starch and is not very stable in home canning. Instead, Clear Jel (modified food starch) can help, but the recipe does require quite a lot of added acid in some forms. I would not make a thick sauce. The recipe also looks very close to many mustard pickle recipes as they also require ground mustard (Colemans brand) and same vegetables. In my mustard pickles I did not use any ground ginger, but instead used some celery seeds. The Tumeric is mostly for that bright yellow color. Muscovado sugar? would that be Turbinare or raw sugar? I only BWB canned mine as it had plenty of a light sauce and only vinegar as the liquid (had some 20% strength). You cold probably can this without any concerns of its done in pressure canner. Check out mustard pickle recipes. My moms piccalilli recipe called for green tomatoes and sliced onions, and used many spices including clove, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and a few others. It had a sauce though, without any thickener, as the liquid was sauce once all the sugar and tomatoes released natural pectin, just to give it a bit of thickness.

Ball's complete book of home preserving has a recipe for
Mixed Mustard Pickles, which uses Clearjel as a thickener (in lieu of the cornflour)
The Ball book says: "Clearjel is a cooking starch this is acceptable for use in home canning".
The Ball recipe uses all of the above ingredients (plus green and red bell peppers and green tomato wedges -- you could always increase the veggies she recalls and leave out the ones she doesn't remember -- just keep the totals the same).
I found another similar recipe from the BBC and it does not call for BWB either, but the Ball recipe does.
If you do not have the Ball Complete book, let me know and I'll type out the recipe and the full note on Clearjel. I've never used it because I like my pickles in a clear thin brine.
I also have an English book with a Piccalilli recipe (which I definitely will not use or reproduce here) which talks about the Indian origins of Piccalilli and says that the English version contains much less sugar than American versions.

The Ball Blue Book (as opposed to the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving) offers the same mustard pickle thickened with flour. The Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving offers at least two flour-thickened pickles. I would surmise in time the flour will be supplanted by ClearJel, but those are current tested recipes.

For every rule there is an exception.

Personally, and I may be putting myself on the chopping block by saying this, but this recipe (excluding the lack of heat processing) probably is well within the safe range. You have undiluted vinegar, mustard(s) and sugar, all of which play a role in discouraging bacteria.

I also like the fact that amounts are by weight. I remember a reference to a historic relish cautioning cooks about the size of the sweet peppers. If an old recipe says, "6 large peppers," probably by today's standards they'd be medium.

A suitable compromise for greatest longevity would be to make the piccalilli, bottle in 8-oz. jars (thinking of what your elderly neighbor might reasonably consume in a short time), BWB for 10 minutes to get a good seal AND then refrigerate.

This is one recommended method for dubious recipes where you want to extend the life of the product. It's also a good compromise for someone who, due to age, may have compromised immunity. The combination of heat processing AND refrigeration minimizes risk while assuring the product keeps a good while. (Can't speculate on how long, but with all that vinegar the worst I'd imagine is softening of texture over time.)

kayskats is right about the sugar. I don't know if British formulas have gotten sweeter over time, but American ones have. Older American recipes also used less sugar.

P.S. And where are you going to find white malt vinegar? I felt I'd made a real score when I found a gallon of the brown malt.

Carol

Then there is chutney.. White malt vinegar?? Here it is from AUSTRALIA!

Here is a link that might be useful: White malt vinegar

Hi All,

Thanks for the quick responses!

Dark malt vinegar is quite common up north here, white is also available here and there. Maybe itÂs a Commonwealth thing LOL. Carol, if you really have problems getting it contact me via email. IÂd be happy to ship some down to you.

Now ClearJel ainÂt too common in my parts. I have read a number of past threads regarding thickeners and am looking for a local supply. Found one in Toronto but shipping cost more than the product!

Carol, thanks for the nod that it would be ok refrigerated. IÂm going to make the original recipe and make sure it stays in the fridge!

I have both the Bernardin and Ball Blue Book. IÂll try a few variations as kayskats suggested.

Thanks again. You guys are great!

Bill

these are the ingredients for the 2nd BBC recipe (I found a link on Wikipedia)
450g/1 lb salt
4.5 litres/8 pints boiling water
2 medium cauliflowers (each weighing about 450g/1 lb), broken into small florets
450g/1 lb pickling onions, peeled and halved
450g/1 lb runner beans, topped and tailed, sides peeled away and cut diagonally into 2.5cm(1 in) pieces
½ large cucumber, halved lengthways, seeds removed and then into 1cm(0.5in) chunks
225g/8oz courgettes, topped and tailed and cut into 1cm chunks
275g/10oz caster sugar
1.5 litres/2 pints 13fl oz distilled malt vinegar, plus extra 5 tbsp
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ whole nutmeg, grated
½ tsp ground allspice
50g/1¾oz plain flour
25g/1oz mustard powder
25g/1oz turmeric powder
15g/½oz ground ginger
½ tsp cayenne pepper

as you will note it uses Caster sugar and distilled Malt vinegar ... doesn't mention white, a lot of additional spices and regular flour...

Thanks again Ken,

Looks like an option if she doesnÂt like the one IÂm trying.

Muscovado sugar is an unrefined Caribbean (Barbados?) sugar, another Commonwealth thing LOL. Caster sugar is what we call icing sugar and courgettes are what we call zucchini here in the colonies.

All the best,

Bill

Sorry kayskats... I need new glasses... I thought Ken posted the recipe. I just realized (after squinting) it was you.

Ken, I take my Thanks again back LOL LOL.

Bill

Thanks for the generous offer, Bill. I got the brown malt vinegar because at some point I want to embark on a quest to emulate Branston pickle. (Hopefully an improved version, LOL.) I haven't seen the white malt, but I haven't looked seriously either.

I don't think I'll be ordering from Australia, though! But thanks for the link, Ken. It's always interesting to see the far-away places things turn up.

I wonder if you'd have better luck with American purveyors of the ClearJel. It wouldn't hurt to check into shipping costs. For your uses a pound or two would last a long time.

Barry Farms will ship Air Letter Post under 4 pounds for a flat $7.50. UPS if that's cheaper. It might be worth checking them out.

I was also going to suggest Blue Chip Group as an alternative, but they've experienced a surge in orders and are backlogged 6-8 weeks.

Another option is to find a baking supply store (cakes, etc.) or a health food store and ask if they can order for you from their suppliers. ClearJel is used in batters for moisture retention so cake decorating shops may carry it.

Be sure you get regular ClearJel and not the instant.

If none of these options pan out, send me an email and I'll post some to you. I bought in bulk and have plenty.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Regular ClearJel from Barry Farms

Thanks for the suggestions and offer Carol.

I have already checked all the health food stores in town but didnÂt even think of baking supply stores. IÂll be calling them today. If I still come up empty handed IÂll check your suggested sites for "regular" ClearJel.

Cheers,

Bill.

Clear jel is not commercailly packaged like you would find for a bag (sack) of flour or a box of corn starch. Its sold by many companies:

http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product.asp?pn=IN0900
http://store.theingredientstore.com/clearjelbulk-1.aspx
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=clear+jel&x=14&y=18

Bill, use dark Malt vinegar, British if you can get it as it is delicious. Skip the flour, and use a cup or two of unskinned apples. The pectin from the apples will thicken it. The sugar is just cane sugar. Alternatively, instead of apples, try adding a bit of minute tapioca, maybe 2 teaspoons to the mix & cook it. Don't forget to do the water processing, at least 10 min. Let us know how it turns out.

PS I'm in Edmonton.