Southern Cookery: Pickles & Sauces

Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.

From What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, by Abby Fisher, 1881.

[Abby Fisher, born an enslaved person in Alabama, relocated to San Francisco to start a pickling business. Her cookbook was the second ever published by a Black woman in the United States.]

Pickles & Sauces

Sweet Cucumber Pickles

Take as many pickles as you want to make that have already been pickled in vinegar, and slice them in four pieces lengthwise, or cut them crosswise the thickness of a silver half-dollar, and place them in an earthen jar in layers of about three inches in thickness, covering each layer of pickles all over with granulated sugar. Keep repeating the layers three inches thick and covering them with sugar until you have placed all the pickles under sugar you have cut up. Let them remain under the sugar twenty-four hours, then take them out and put them in jars. Then make a syrup in the following way: One quart of sugar to one quart of clear water, and let it boil down to one quart. You will then have one quart of pure syrup. Add one tea-cup of wine vinegar to one pint of syrup, then add the vinegar syrup to the pickles until they are thoroughly covered. Always use granulated sugar.

Sweet Cucumber Mangoes

Take large pickled cucumbers, open them with a knife on one side to within half an inch of each end. Scrape out the inside with your fingers, then sprinkle them inside with granulated sugar as thick as a ten-cent piece. Let them remain in that state twenty-four hours or longer, then stuff perfectly full and tie them or wrap with white cord. Make the stuffing in the following way: Take one-fourth of a head of a small cabbage, cut up fine, and two dozen cucumber pickles the size of those to be stuffed . Slice them in small pieces the size of a cherry, and two large onions sliced thin. Then chop fine one dozen cucumber pickles, two pounds of white mustard seed, one tablespoonful of ground allspice, one teaspoonful of ground cloves, sugar to your taste, one-half gallon of wine vinegar. Then put to boil slowly in a porcelain kettle; two hours will cook it. Salt and pepper to your taste. Make syrup in the same way as the sweet pickles. You boil a few cloves in the vinegar that is put in the syrup of these pickles, and syrup and vinegar in same way.

Chow Chow

Take one cabbage, a large one, and cut up fine. Put in a large jar or keg, and sprinkle over it thickly one pint of coarse salt. Let it remain in salt twelve hours, then scald the cut-up cabbage with one gallon of boiling vinegar. Cut up two gallons of cucumbers, green or pickled, and add to it; cut in pieces the size of the end of little finger. Then chop very fine two gallons more of cucumbers or pickles and add to the above.

Seasonings: One pound of brown sugar, one tablespoonful of cayenne pepper, one tablespoonful of black pepper, two gallons of pure wine vinegar, two tablespoonfuls of tumerick, six onions, chopped fine or grated. Then put it on to cook in a large porcelain kettle, with a slow fire, for twelve hours. Stir it occasionally to keep it from burning. You can add more pepper than is here given if you like it hot.

Creole Chow Chow

One gallon of green tomatoes, sliced thin, half dozen silver skin onions, sliced thin, one gallon wine vinegar, two tea-cups of brown sugar, one tablespoonful of cayenne pepper, one tablespoonful black pepper, one tablespoonful of tumerick. Put the onions and tomatoes together in a keg or jar and sprinkle over them one pint of salt and let it so remain twenty-four hours, then drain all the brine off from them over cullender, then put the vinegar to them and add the seasoning, and put to cook on a slow fire, stir to keep from burning. It will take the whole day to cook; you can make any quantity you want, by doubling the quantity of vegetables and seasonings here prescribed, or if you want a less quantity, lessen the proportion, say half the quantity, then you want a half gallon of tomatoes to begin with, and a half of every thing else needed in this chow chow.

Cherry Chutney

Get your cherries and seed them; to one gallon half dozen silver skin onions chopped fine; first put the onions to cook in half gallon of vinegar, 10 minutes, then add the cherries, season with two ounces of ground cinnamon, one teaspoonful of cayenne pepper and one of black pepper, two tablespoonfuls of salt, then let it continue to cook with a slow fire, twelve hours, stir it occasionally and keep from burning.

Game Sauce

Take one peck of plums, half dozen silver skin onions and chop them very fine; put on the plums to cook. First seed plums; use a porcelain kettle; put the onions to stew in a pint of vinegar until thoroughly done, then add them to the plums; four pounds of granulated sugar to be added; season with one teaspoonful of cayenne pepper, one of black pepper, two ounces of cinnamon broke in fine pieces; cook on a slow fire, stir frequently to avoid burning one teaspoonful of table salt it will take one whole day to cook; when cool cork in a tight jar and keep in cool closet you will find it the best sauce in the world.

Compound Tomato Sauce

One peck of ripe tomatoes, cut them in slices and put them in a vessel, and add one tea-cupful of salt to them, two ounces fine allspice, one ounce of fine cloves, one tablespoonful of black pepper and one of cayenne pepper, five large silver skin onions cut up fine, and the whole stand twenty-four hours; mix well together when you set to stand, then put it to cook with one quart of vinegar and let it cook all day; stir it occasionally; it must become thick before it is thoroughly cooked, then strain all skin and studs out of it through a sieve; when cool put in a demijohn, as it is will keep better than in bottles when first made.

N. B. If you don't like much pepper use half the quantity, if you like it very hot use double the quantity.

Napoleon Sauce

Twenty green cucumbers to one quart of Chili peppers and one dozen Bell peppers, (take out seeds), and chop the cucumbers and pickles fine, and mix well together, and sprinkle half a teacupful of salt over them. Chop half dozen red onions in it. Pour one gallon of vinegar over it and let it stand that way one day and night, then put it to cook next morning and cook slowly all day, stirring it occasionally to keep it from burning, then strain through a sieve. Take a half teacupful of brown sugar and put it in a frying pan on the fire, and let it bake thoroughly just next to burning; then stir in one pint of vinegar to the sugar and when it comes to a light boil strain it through a sieve into the sauce, and stir till well mixed. When cooled cork up in a demijohn.

Pepper Mangoes

Take the Bell peppers and scald them in boiling vinegar, then cut the top end of the peppers out and clean out the seeds nicely, as the seeds are no good. You will then prepare a stuffing in the following way: Take one gallon of cucumber pickles, one-half of a head of large cabbage, one-half dozen large silver skin onions, and chop them all up very fine, (the cabbage will chop better if you first slice it thin with a sharp knife): then take two pounds of white mustard seeds, sift all the dust from them and wash clean, one-quarter pound of celery seed, and two quarts of vinegar; add to the vegetables, and put to boil and boil slowly for three hours, stirring it every two or three minutes, Season while cooking with one tablespoonful of cayenne pepper and one of black pepper. If you do not like it very hot, use half the quantity of each kind of pepper; if you like it very hot double the quantity of each kind of pepper.

When the stuffing becomes cool, stuff your Bell peppers, using a teaspoon to stuff with, then place the top back on them, and tie nicely with cord, the same way a bundle is tied, and pack them close together in a keg or barrel. This quantity of stuffing will stuff about fifty large Bell peppers. See that they be covered well with vinegar when packed.

Meat Dressing

One peck of young carrots grated, one dozen red skin onions grated, one dozen cauliflowers grated; mix the vegetables together and put to cook, adding two gallons of vinegar. Season with two tablespoonfuls of ground black pepper, one tablespoonful of cayenne pepper, and one teacupful of salt, stirring it in well. Put one teacupful of brown sugar on the fire in a frying pan, and let cook to a dark brown, then pour in two teacupfuls of vinegar; stir it well and strain it through a sieve into the kettle while cooking, and let it cook slowly one day. This dressing is nice for all meat entrees, soups and gravies; put two tablespoonfuls to one-half gallon soup, and one tablespoonful to one quart of stew, etc.

Sweet Pickle Peach

Use the cling stone peach, taking as many as you may want to pickle. Have your vinegar boiling hot, and drop your peaches into it, letting them remain in the hot vinegar for five minutes, then take them out and put them in a stone jar; about every six inches of peaches cover with sugar one inch thick, putting them in the jar this way a layer of peaches and then a layer of sugar until you get all the peaches under sugar. Use five pounds of sugar to ten pounds of peaches.

Let the peaches remain under sugar one day, then take the juice that comes out of the peaches, and the sugar if any remain undissolved, and add two pounds more of sugar to it, and put on the fire in a porcelain kettle, and let it cook to a thick clear syrup, then pour the syrup boiling hot over the peaches. Now take the vinegar the peaches were scalded in, and put it to boil the second time, adding while boiling one-half teacupful of whole allspice, and one ounce of whole cloves and then pour it on the peaches and boil. Pour this juice on the peaches for nine mornings alternately.

Sweet Pickle Pears

Follow the same directions in making sweet pickle pears as in making sweet pickle peaches.

Sweet Pickle Prunes

Follow the same directions as given for making sweet pickle peaches, except use cinnamon bark instead of allspice one teacupful of cinnamon to ten pounds of prunes.

Sweet Watermelon Rind Pickle

Take the melon rind and scrape all the meat from the inside, and then carefully slice all the outside of rind from the white part of the rind, then lay or cover the white part over with salt. It will have to remain under salt one week before pickling; the rind will keep in salt from year to year. When you want to pickle it, take it from the salt and put into clear water, change the water three times a day--must be changed say every four hours then take the rind from water and dry it with a clean cloth.

Have your vinegar boiling, and put the rind into it and let it scald four minutes, then take it off the fire and let it lay in vinegar four days; then take it from the vinegar, drain, and sprinkle sugar thickly over it and let it remain so one day. To make syrup, take the syrup from the rind and add eight pounds more sugar to it, and put to boil; boil till a thick and clear syrup. Weigh ten pounds of rind to twelve pounds of sugar; cover the rind with four pounds of it and make the syrup with the remaining eight pounds.

While the syrup is cooking add one teacupful of white ginger root and the peel of three lemons. When the syrup is cooked, then put the rind into the boiling syrup, and let it cook till you can pass a fork through it with ease, then it is done. When cooled put in jar or bottles with one pint of vinegar to one quart of syrup, thus the pickle is made. See that they be well covered with vinegar and syrup as directed.

Onion Pickles

Take as many small onions as you desire to pickle and peel them, then put them in a keg or barrel. Lay down one layer of onions about three inches thick, cover them all over with salt freely; then another layer of onions in the same way and cover with salt, and repeat in this manner until all the onions are covered with salt. Let them remain one or two days, then take the onions out of the salt and put them in clear water, letting them remain in the water long enough to be seasoned with salt to your taste. If very salty, you had better change the first water after three or four hours. Put the onions in a large cullender or wire sieve and let the water all drain from them, then put them into a keg, cover them with vinegar, and let them remain in the vinegar twenty-four hours.

Take the vinegar from them and put it on to boil, seasoning it with the following spices: Two gallons of vinegar will take one teacupful of allspice, two tablespoonfuls of cloves, one-half teacupful of black pepper (wash and pick all gravel from the pepper before putting in vinegar), one-fourth pound of white ginger, one-fourth pound of Chile peppers. This seasoning must be boiled in the vinegar, and when boiled twenty minutes, strain vinegar from the spices through a cullender on to the pickles, and always prepare enough in this way to have your pickles well covered with vinegar.

Plain Pickles

Any vegetable you want to pickle under this head, say small or large cucumbers, cabbage or green tomatoes, have them fresh and put them into a barrel, one layer of cucumbers, or other vegetable, about three inches deep, covering thickly with salt, and repeating layers and salt until you have under brine all you desire to pickle. Let them remain under the brine, if you want to pickle right away, for twenty-four hours, which is long enough, but they will keep a long time by always having them well pressed down with a heavy rock. If you are going to pickle vegetables twenty-four hours after putting them in salt, let them lay in fresh water for two hours, so as to get the smell of the old brine off them. Take them out of the water and put to drain on a sieve made for that purpose of galvanized iron, square, three by four feet, or larger, if needed.

Let them drain two or three days, then put in a clean keg or barrel and cover thoroughly with vinegar. Sprinkle over a keg of pickles two ounces of powdered alum while under the vinegar. Let them so remain twelve or twenty-four hours, then pour off the vinegar from the pickles into a large kettle and put to boil. Season while boiling, to five gallons of vinegar, one teacupful of allspice, one-fourth pound of ginger root, two ounces of cloves, one-half teacupful of black pepper, two tablespoonfuls of cayenne pepper. If you do not like pickles very hot, use one-half the quantity of peppers. When it boils with the seasonings twenty minutes, pour the boiling vinegar over the pickles.

Make enough vinegar from these directions to cover well your pickles. They will keep a long time if under vinegar. Sprinkle over a five-gallon keg, when you put the vinegar on the pickles, two or three ounces of powdered alum, if you like pickles brittle.

Fisher, Abby. What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking. Women's Co-operative Printing Office, 1881.

Abby Fisher

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