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Hi, I am embarrassed to ask, but hope you'll humour me:

- when you make pea pod wine, is it the empty pods, or the pods with the peas in that you're supposed to use?

- pickled oinions are quite small - can you just take any old onions and pull em up when they're about the size you want or do they have to be a specific variety?

Hope you can help

Ange

I don't know the answer but I just wanted to say it wasn't a stupid question ;-).

(Although, I think you just use the pods + I suspect small onions are a particular variety but you can also pick big ones when they are little. But a competent person will come and know the answer!).

Definitely just the pods

As for the onions - that question's made me realise that I haven't the faintest idea. I would imagine that there are onion strains which have been developed specifically to produce small bulbs quickly, but I'd also imagine that any small onion would do.

Mike

Thanks MKG that's good news We don't have enough space to have enough peas to have any 'spares', but definitely enough to have pods for wine

With regard to the onions, size is the main factor I would say. Pull when right for you to pickle.

Just what I wanted to hear, thank you so much! Am planning christmas in advance and it just isn't the same without pickled onions (and pickled eggs of course), plus am hoping to build up a stock of homemade booze

I always thought you used 'pickling' onions but then I've never really known what they are. Having written that it sounds stupid but I mean look at a recipe for pickled onions and that's what they say. I think they are small white onions but I haven't seen any like that here in France. But then they don't make or eat pickled onions.

Ah, apparently you should use onions that are sweeter and milder than usual types, so I guess those are the ones that are called 'pickling onions'

The variety of onion seed that seems to be advertised to grow for pickling is Paris Silverskin. This is a small bulbing type, I'm sure there must be plenty of others you could use, even shallots.

When i made pea-pod wine many years ago - it was pods-only
probably from CJ Berry's recipe book