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Vinegar Salad

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KHaigh9531

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My mom and grandma (both proud Brummies) used to make vinegar salad which involved layering cucumber, tomatoes, sliced cooked eggs and lettuce and pouring malt vinegar over it and leaving for couple of hours in the fridge. Probably where I got my love of vinegar flavored foods!

Anyone else know of this dish?

Karen
 
Lovely - I still put cucumber and onion to soak in vinigar for a salad, or to eat with sandwiches - specially if my father in law is coming to tea.
 
Mom used to slice cucumber and onion and cover in vinegar. She also used to put vinegar onto tinned crab, and beetroot was always put into vinegar just before we ate it.
 
I wondered whether this dish was a Midlands recipe because I have never heard of it anywhere else. I know that pickling is a common practice all over the Woirld for preservative reasons, but this layering of food and soaking a relatively short time in vinegar is unusual. Delicious!
 
My mum did similar things with tomato onion and cucumber - but not with egg. Makes we want some right now - yum!
 
I tried it recently with cucumber, onion and sweet red pepper. keeps well in a jar in the fridger. I did it with half white vinigar and half water.

Beetroot is my favourite to do, we are growing it at the moment. I went and bought malt vinigar yesterday as you had reminded me about it. O0
 
We always used to have this kind of salad for tea in the pavilion when I went with my dad to watch him play cricket. With lashings of bread and butter and fish paste sandwiches. Followed by jam butties and cups of tea. After which the teams would go out again and finish the game. Hmmm salad days...no sign of Kraft dressing then.
Regards
 
Cucumber and onion in vinegar

Has anyone else ever tried this? My dad loved it. We had it every Sunday evening for tea with salad and sandwiches. I've never seen it eaten anywhere else.
 
My mother also did that but added most things you had in a salad,she always called it a vinager salad mostly for tea on sunday
 
cucumber & Onion in vinigar

My Mother in Law always did this when we went to tea on a Sunday. I have followed the tradition. We love it...
 
Cucumber and Onion

One of my very dear childhood memories was every Sunday afternoon tea when my Nan and Grandad would come to tea.

We would have the usual chat, play games in the parlour and then all sit down to the 'Mike Sams Singers' singing 'Something Simple' on the radio and indulge ourselves in my Mom's tea. Nan would always bring Cucumber and Onions in vinegar in a jar that we would all scoff down with our sandwiches.

Grandad would ensure that we all had a little bit of brown liquid sugar (Whisky) in our tea.

Simple times but memorable.

This is what being a family was all about. At about 7pm Nan and Grandad would go home and we would go to bed.

Happy days.
 
Oh I remember 'sing something simple' ( I can still hear the song in my head). Our Sunday evening routine was bath, 'Sing Something Simple' on the radio, tea then bed.

I must make it again, hope I'm not disappointed, sometimes things are much better if left as a memory.
 
Haven't had cucumber and onion in ages. I used to pinch it from the dish as a kid, and risk a slap off Mom bless her
Lynda
 
Although cucumbers and onions in vinegar wasn't on the menu at our house. My Father had an ulcer and uncooked onions didn't suit him although he loved them. My friend Margaret used to invite me to Sunday tea when I was l6 years old and her family always had them on Sunday's when I was there. I looked forward to having that dish very much on those occasions. It usually went along with the standard British Sunday tea which consisted of salad, stalks of celery, sometimes ham on the bone or tinned salmon, Macedonia veggies (Heinz), Heinz salad cream, and a large plate of bread and butter with lashings of hot tea. At Sunday tea, the Best Butter was often used instead of Marg especially if guests were coming to tea. This was often followed by home made cake or fruit salad , jelly if you could get it to set, served with evap milk. In the winter months I can remember toast with whatever was around to put on it.... Marmite I liked.

Sadly, I had no grandparents to bring forward their special recipes.
 
Oh I remember tea at grandma's we had sandwiches and tea. I remeber she had a china bowl which the tea leaves were tipped into. We could not have a piece of cake unless we ate our bread and butter. We just loved to shop uncle Jack who hated bread and butter.....so he couldn't have cake after.:D

I never had vinegar and cucumber or onions till I met Michael. His Mom would always serve it with Sunday tea.
 
Have Cucumber & Onion on the go most days of the week in our house always have, the Lads love it.:)
 
If we were having visitors (a rare occurrence) My Mom would sometimes prepare a high Sunday tea which consisted of a selection of sandwiches cut into triangles. She would use thin sliced white bread and spread Co-op butter from a shaped patted block. The filling (pre fridge days) was usually from tins: - red salmon with a dash of vinegar salt 'n' pepper. (White pepper then) ham and a small tin of tongue sometimes even Pilchards that were mashed in their tomato juice.
She would prepare some cucumber and spanish onion in a shallow dish smothered in vinegar, a few tomatoes, some wilted lettuce, a few hard boiled eggs sliced using the egg slicer thing that every one had, some celery sticks with the string still attached and a few spring onions. There were side dishes of Grans home made pickled onions and red cabbage and a jar of that stuff that looked like cat sick (Piccalilli)
There was usually a block of cheddar, which had had the rind cut off which was given to the dog and some Dairylea triangles for me. Heinz Salad cream was a luxury and strictly for grown ups. After the savory selection came the sweet selection, which you couldn’t have unless you’d eaten what you been given before hand. You could have home made Fruitcake, scones or Malt loaf. There was tinned fruit salad or sliced peaches for those who weren’t concerned about what was going on in South African, both were served with Plumrose tinned cream. Sometimes if we had enough milk there was an individual jelly or a blancmange for me, if all else failed instead of banana sandwiches I could have sliced banana and custard.
For special occasions (Birthdays) Mom would make a Trifle; Mom’s trifle was why I loved Mom so much, it was wonderful and would keep me quiet afterwards in a stupefied state especially after seconds or thirds. My sister still tries to make a trifle like Mom’s for me but fails miserably every time. My brother and I still eat it out of courtesy and leave the dish clean so that we don’t upset her.:D
Mom would open the china cabinet and place her favorite Cups and saucers in readiness. The cups were so light they could have made of plastic, the porcelain was so fine you could see through it. Mom always kept the one with the crack for herself and would cup it in her hand instead of through the dainty little finger hole for some reason. The canteen of cutlery which had been a 25th wedding anniversary gift and stood in the front room would have the tablecloth removed and with a deft movement my Dad would get the key, which was hidden from 'little prying hands' in the Toby Jug on the top shelf; I found it difficult to get the key without climbing on the back of the settee and stretching, but not impossible. It contained a large carving knife which was smashing to throw and see if I could get it to stick in during the school holidays. I digress.8)
When Dad felt inclined we would sometimes have a Crab or a few pints of mussels. Mom would leave these overnight in the big cauldron filled with water, and a handful of oats. I wasn't allowed to witness their death by boiling water; it was deemed that i was too sensitive and would be upset by their squealing.
I liked our teas together on Sunday nights when the TV used to go off between 6 and 7. I'm not sure now whether the TV actually went off or whether Dad just turned it off. My Dad was funny and made us laugh. He kept a straight face and never raised his voice. He could scold you with a look when needed. He scolded me many times but it never hurt though.:rolleyes:
 
Magic Food what happened.
I made a Trifle this Christmas the only person who tried it was me:)

Still have Salmon and Sardines a least once a week on Toast. Some weeks it will be Pilchards on Toast
 
Cucumber and onions in vinegar.

Happy days.[/quote] :DGuess what. That' what I'm addicted to. Not just the taste but the swmell also. I am going to finish it off lunchtime with maskeral. The salmon went yesterday. Bye. Jean.:D

Did some of your family live in Holte Road?. As I said in my post I love cucumber and onion in vinegar. Not only the taste but the smell also. I'm finishing mine off with mackeral lunchtime. Bye for now. Jean. Great Barr.:D

:DThat's what I do Pat. Add a bit of sugar. I am finishing mine off lunchtime with mackeral. Bye for now. Jean.:D
 
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Did some of your family live in Holte Road?. As I said in my post I love cucumber and onion in vinegar. Not only the taste but the smell also. I'm finishing mine off with mackeral lunchtime. Bye for now. Jean. Great Barr.

:DThat's what I do Pat. Add a bit of sugar. I am finishing mine off lunchtime with mackeral. Bye for now. Jean.:D
 
Oh I absolutely love cucumber & onions in vinegar.......wonderful stuff. Yes it takes me back to 'the old days' too....when on a Sunday evening we'd have tea in front of the coal fire. Mom would sometimes make toast, cut into fingers with mashed pilchards/sardines whatever on top, which I loved.......& so did our dog who would try his very best to inch his way nearer & nearer to the fire place until he got told off for putting his paws on the hearth!!:D
The cucumber & vinegar had to be really 'sharp' to make your eyes water...gorgeous. I still make it now but my lot had never heard of it. Wonder if its a Midland thing as not many people up here (north east) know what you're talking about when you mention it.
 
Great to read all the memories about Sunday tea. In those days we are remembering, the weekends were totally different to nowadays. No Sunday shopping, of course, except the tobacconists that opened here and there but only for a few hours here and there. It was a day for family to spend at home mostly especially in the winter. Where ever the fire was is where the family gathered since it was warm. Sometimes we didn't want to go into the kitchen to fetch something we had missed for the Sunday tea because it was so cold in there! In the summer we went on picnics but that is another food subject to be discussed. I had forgotten to mention the sardines and pilchards mashed up on toast...absolutely splendid. My husband's family is British so he was brought up on many of the foods such as mentioned above. His Mother was from London and don't ever remember her talking about the cucumber and onion dish.

We often have sardines on toast and we can get John West of which I have a couple of tins on hand.
 
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