A Simple Relish

Here's a simple relish, to go with stewey type things. It harks back to the old Lancastrian tradition of serving piccalilli, pickled cabbage, etc. with hotpot.

First make your favourite veggie stew or sheperdless pie (Oh, OK then. Cook some green lentils. Fry some onions. Add the lentils, complete with cooking water. Then chopped, smoked tofu, a diced carrot or so, a stock cube, some soy sauce, a couple of cloves of garlic. Thicken with cornflour or arrowroot if necessary. Put in an oven dish. Top with mashed Swede and potato, incorporating plenty of butter. Bake).

Anyway, the relish. Thinly slice some red cabbage - as thin as you can manage. Sprinkle with salt and mix thoroughly. Add some wine vinegar. Note the colour change. (Incidentally, if you leave red cabbage in the dishwasher, it goes turquoise.) Leave a couple of hours, agitating it occasionally. Drain off the liquid. Mix in some thinly sliced red onion. Serve. Better than the sum of its parts.

****** The Political Bit. ******

In politics, pragmatism can be another name for hypocrisy. That said, Mo Mowlam is the only member of the cabinet I have any time for. I am genuinely impressed by her hypocrisy in the cause of peace. This morning, she was on the radio talking about the Balcombe Street gang being allowed to attend the Sinn Fein conference in Dublin. What MO didn't mention - and knows full well that nobody dare mention - not the government, opposition, unionists or RUC - is that the Balcombe St. siege is not their only claim to fame. It is well known - and they have themselves stated publicly - that they were the Guilford bombers.