This sweet and tangy relish has a subtle hint of bitterness and heat from the addition of celery and mustard seeds.
Why It Works
- Salting the shredded vegetables and then draining them before you add the other seasoning improves texture and gives you a less watery relish.
- Mustard and celery seeds add just a hint of bitterness and heat, which offsets the sweetness of the relish.
With Memorial Day in sight, I sat down to make sure every condiment needed for the summer barbecue season was accounted for:
Ketchup, check.
Mustard, check.
Mayo, check.
Barbecue sauce, check.
Thinking I had the standard bases covered, I started to relax, then realized an important omission, relish! Relish comes in a bunch of varieties—just add vinegar, sugar, and salt to any chopped vegetable—but when we’re talking standard cookout fare, it’s a sweet cucumber relish you usually want.
To make mine, I implemented to a two-step approach to grate then chop cucumbers, onions, and red and green bell peppers in the food processor to achieve a nice, fine texture. The veggies were then salted, let rest, and rinsed. Next they were simmered in a mixture of vinegar, sugar, celery seed, and mustard seed and transferred to a jar for storage.
What you’ll get is a sweet, tangy relish with a nice note of celery and a little bitterness from the mustard seed to round it out. I expect this batch to be gone by the end of the weekend.
