Return of the Relish Tray
Return of the Relish Tray
By Sidonie Maroon
In my comfy rocker, with a stack of classic Thanksgiving issues of Saveur and Gourmet. I flipped through glossy pages of perfect pies, when a memory of my ten fingers adorned with black olives surfaced. I saw a partitioned pressed glass dish filled with sweet pickles, canned beets, celery stuffed with cream cheese, and black olives. What was that called?
The relish tray. Once an integral part of the Thanksgiving ritual, and now forgotten, or at least misunderstood. As a child, I knew those olives were the only thing of interest. I wouldn’t touch the beets, total yuk, and the rest looked boring. So, why conjure up the relish tray?
Got me, but curiosity won, and that meant reading articles, tracking down vintage relish trays, and watching YouTube videos. Yes, cavelcadeoffood.com devoted an entire episode to celebrate the relish tray, both as an example of historic American tableware and the foods served in them.
The search was adventurous and created more questions and thoughts like —
What’s a relish?
“A term flexibly applied to pickles, small fish variously preserved, and other dishes intended to stimulate appetite.” The Encyclopedia Of Food by Artemas Ward 1923.
“A vegetable side dish eaten in small quantities with a blander main dish. Relishes are frequently finely cut vegetables in a sour, sweet-sour, or spicy sauce… The Indonesian sambal, Indian chutney, and Korean kimchi are relishes that accompany virtually every meal in their respective cuisine.” Encyclopedia Britannica
Why Pickles Before?
First, the sour taste fuels the appetite by increasing salivary secretions, digestive enzymes, and stimulating our metabolism. Second, sour foods aren’t calorie laden, so won’t spoil your dinner, unlike items on a cheese board.
Do This Not That
My takeaway from this romp with the relish tray is to serve pickles, marinated olives and crudites before a meal to stimulate the appetite. Save the hors d’oeuvres for casual gatherings as meals in themselves. Think of Spanish tapas, Mediterranean mezze, and Eastern European zakuski. They support social gatherings and drinking, not dinners. When you keep this rule in mind, it simplifies pre-dinner expectations.
Shape Matters
Classic American relish trays from the 1930s through the 1970s, often made of pressed glass, came in all shapes, colors and sizes. They were always partitioned, to keep the various pickle juices separate, because it’s important to keep sweet pickle and spicy olive flavors from mixing.
Queen Relish
If I were queen of the relish tray, I’d — Make it a conversation piece to promote and educate its comeback, by using vintage relish trays, augmented with pint mason jars for upright raw veggies. Vary the colors of the raw veggies, pickles and olives—black, green, red, yellow and greens. Use lots of fresh herbs under and around the trays. Be sure to include spicy, sour-sweet and umami offerings. Be daring — make a variety of quick pickles for the occasion with unusual vegetables. Bring out the exciting lacto-fermented and canned pickles put up over the summer. It’s the time to show off family recipes. How about some homemade pickled peppers, horseradish sauce, spicy kimchi, sweet and sour beets… or pickled and smoked fish? Say yes, this year to the return of the relish tray.
Butternut Squash Pickles
Makes 1 quart
Ingredients
4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into ¼ inch sticks
1 cup raw apple cider vinegar
6 tablespoons honey
½ cup water
2 ½ teaspoons fine grained seasalt
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon fennel seed
½ teaspoon decorticated cardamom
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Directions
1) Peel, seed and chop butternut squash into French fry sized sticks. Don’t fuss over the curved pieces and chop into irregular pieces. Bring a pot of water to the boil, salt and blanch the squash for 1 minute, or until still crunchy— not starchy. Strain and submerge in cold water. Drain and add to a quart mason jar.
2) In a saucepan, bring the vinegar and other brine ingredients to a simmer for 15 minutes. Cool, pour the brine over the squash, seal with a non reactive lid, and refrigerate overnight before serving.
Beet Pickles
Makes 1 quart
Ingredients
4 cups beets, peeled and cut into ¼ inch sticks
1 cup raw apple cider vinegar
6 tablespoons honey
½ cup water
2 ½ teaspoons fine grained seasalt
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons grated horseradish
2 teaspoons caraway seed
Directions
1) Peel beet and slice into French fry sized sticks. Bring a pot of water to the boil, salt and blanch the beets for 1 minute, or until still crunchy. Strain and submerge in cold water. Drain and add to a quart mason jar.
2) In a saucepan, bring the vinegar and other brine ingredients to a simmer for 15 minutes. Cool, pour the brine over the beets, seal with a non reactive lid, and refrigerate overnight before serving.
Red Cabbage and Pomegranate Quick Pickle
Makes 4 cups
Ingredients
1.5 lbs red cabbage, 8 cups, in large chunks
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Dressing
1 tablespoon runny raw honey
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely minced
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
Toppings
1 tablespoon fennel seed
½ cup pistachios
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup pomegranate seeds
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions
1) In a large mixing bowl, sprinkle the salt over the cabbage and massage it in for 2 minutes.
2) Rinse the cabbage and drain in a colander to remove most of the salt.
3) Add dressing ingredients. Toss together and taste.
4) Cover and refrigerate for 1-3 hours. Before serving, heat the olive oil in a saute pan and fry the fennel seed until golden, drain on paper towels. Add the nuts, pomegranate seeds and ground pepper at the table.
Keep Around Garlic Ginger Sauce
Makes 2 ½ cups
40 minutes
Try this easy sauce for stir-fried dishes, meats, or wherever you want lots of flavor in a hurry. It’s a fabulous way to use up odds and ends of ginger and garlic heads, and it’ll keep for a long time refrigerated.
Ingredients
⅓ cup ginger, roughly chopped
2 cups garlic blanched for 3 minutes
⅓ cup tamari
⅓ cup rice vinegar
⅓ cup coconut sugar
⅓ cup rice wine, or sherry
⅓ cup water
1/2 teaspoon Korean red pepper flakes
Directions
1) Blanch 2 cups of garlic for 3 minutes and drain.
2) Add the ginger and garlic to a food processor and pulse several times to a relish consistency.
3) Add the other ingredients and pulse several times until well combined. In a saucepan, cook the sauce on a medium heat, frequently stirring, until the flavors have mellowed, and it’s thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes. Let it cool and refrigerate.
