Pickle Brine Gravy

The brine at the bottom of a gherkin jar is seasoned vinegar with dill, mustard seed and garlic already in it, and throwing it away is a small waste. Used as about a fifth of the liquid in a gravy it gives you acidity and aromatics for nothing. This is the gravy for schnitzel, breaded pork, sausages or anything fried that needs cutting through.

Ingredients

Makes about 450ml, enough for four plates

• 25g (1oz) butter or the fat left in the pan from frying pork
• 1 shallot finely chopped
• 20g plain flour
• 400ml (14fl oz) hot chicken or pork stock
• 80ml (3fl oz) gherkin or dill pickle brine from the jar, strained
• 2 gherkins chopped small, optional
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp chopped dill or parsley to finish
• black pepper to taste

Kit

• Frying pan or saucepan
• Balloon whisk
• Measuring jug

Method

1. Melt the butter in the pan over a medium heat, or if you have just fried pork in it, pour off all but about two tablespoons of the fat and leave the browned bits in place.

2. Add the shallot and cook for four minutes until soft and translucent. Scrape the base as you stir if there is anything stuck to it.

3. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute and a half, until it turns pale gold and smells toasted rather than raw.

4. Add the hot stock a third at a time, whisking each addition smooth before the next goes in. Bring to a simmer and cook for four minutes until it thickens.

5. Now add the pickle brine in a slow stream, whisking as it goes. Adding it after the gravy has thickened matters, because acid slows down the way flour thickens and you can end up with a thin gravy if it goes in early.

6. Stir in the sugar and let the gravy simmer for two more minutes to take the raw edge off the vinegar. It should smell sharp and dilly but not eye watering.

7. Taste before seasoning. Pickle brine is salty, so you may need none at all. Grind in black pepper, stir in the chopped gherkins if you want texture, and add the dill right at the end off the heat.

Tips worth knowing

• Eighty millilitres in a total of about 480ml of liquid is a fifth, which is the right ratio. Go to a third and the gravy tastes like warm vinegar and the flour struggles to hold it together.
• Add the brine after the gravy has thickened. Acid interferes with starch, and a gravy built with vinegar from the start will be noticeably thinner.
• Brine from sweet pickled gherkins is a different thing from dill pickle brine. If yours is the sweet sort, leave out the teaspoon of sugar entirely.
• The same trick works with the liquid from a jar of capers, pickled onions or jalapeños, though each brings its own character so taste as you go.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps four days in the fridge, and the acidity actually helps it keep. It freezes for two months but the dill goes limp, so add fresh herbs after reheating. Warm gently with a splash of stock.

Questions people ask