“What are you, crazy?” my wife said when I told her I was bringing escabeche to a Thanksgiving potluck dinner. After all, if there’s anything that doesn’t scream Traditional Thanksgiving, it’s this dish of chilled pickled vegetables with vinegar-marinated white Spanish anchovies.
This was my thinking, I explained to her: Everyone else will be bringing the starchy, rich, creamy, sweet, bland dishes you usually eat at Thanksgiving. What would be more welcome than this fresh, tart, spicy and brightly colored starter? I was right. The escabeche disappeared quickly.
I love to eat escabeche year round, especially as a starter for any hearty meal. This is a dish I’ve tinkering with for about 20 years, ever since a chef in New York showed me how to make simple pickled vegetables as an accompaniment to a pork terrine. You start by making pickling liquid with white vinegar, sugar, water, spices and salt and you simmer, then cool, the vegetables in the liquid.
Over the years, I’ve changed the proportions of vinegar and sugar, experimented with the combination of spices, and started adding a handful of fresh herbs at the end (I always add herbs at the end of cooking so their essential flavor is retained).
I’ve found that drizzling the escabeche with olive oil as it’s cooling gives the dish a nice balance, like a vin aigrette. Adding the white anchovies is optional — some people find their flavor strong and their texture slimy — but I love the hint of fishiness they give, and their white color stands out beautifully among the brightly colored vegetables.
If you can’t find red pearl onions, make this dish with white pearl onions (do not use canned cocktail onions) or sliced red Bermuda onions.
Escabeche
Makes about 3 quarts.
Ingredients
2 pints red pearl onions
3 cups white wine, champagne or distilled vinegar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon kosher salt (plus more for cooking the pearl onions)
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon chile flakes
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut 1/3-inch thick on the bias
1 small head cauliflower, cut into 1-inch florets
Few sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup white anchovies (about 3 ounces)
Directions
Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil and add the onions. Let the pot come back to a boil, then drain and cool the onions.
Carefully stem, then peel the onions with a paring knife. Set aside.
In a large nonreactive pot, bring the wine or vinegar, sugar, water, salt, peppercorns, chile flakes and coriander to a boil. Add the carrots, simmer about 5 minutes, then add the cauliflower and pearl onions and simmer another 2 minutes. Transfer to a large salad bowl or plastic container, add the thyme and olive oil, cover and chill in the refrigerator about 2 hours.
When ready to serve, fold in the anchovies. Serve family- style with a cold lager or pilsener.
