Sweet Pickled Grapes

Wow! What can I say? Some of us love them, and others aren't so sure! Personally, I love them - in fact, I find them very hard to resist. They make a refreshingly different accompaniment to cheese or cold meat. By the way, I have used fructose in place of the sugar, with no noticeable difference in the end result. And most recently, I used a vanilla pod instead of the cinnamon stick, squeezing the seeds into the liquid before adding it to the grapes. The original recipe came from David Scott's "Middle Eastern Vegetarian Cookery", but I have doubled the quantity of spices because I like it that way - please half the cinnamon and cloves if you think you would prefer a milder version. Posted in the hope of joining the North African and Middle Eastern Zaar Tag game :-)

• Ready In: 48 hrs 15 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1  lb seedless grapes (450g)
• 4  fluid ounces wine vinegar (100ml)
• 4  fluid ounces water (100 ml)
• 1  large oranges, juice of (100ml) or 4  fluid ounces  fresh orange juice (100ml)
• 1  cinnamon stick
• 4  cloves
• 1  tablespoon sugar (or fructose, if preferred)

Directions

1. Put the wine vinegar, water, orange juice, cinnamon, cloves and sugar into a sauce pan, bring to the boil then set aside to cool.
2. Wash the grapes, take them off their stalks and make sure you remove any remaining bits of stalk from the grapes.
3. When the vinegar mixture is cool, remove the cinnamon stick.
4. Take a clean jar (a pickling jar is ideal) and pack in the grapes.
5. Pour the vinegar mixture into the jar to cover the grapes, then seal the jar tightly.
6. Leave the jar in a cool dark place for 2 days before eating - I keep mine in the fridge, because I am not sure how well they keep if not chilled. Eat within 2 weeks of making.