Having a bottle or two of this ruby liquid in a pantry is fantastic; in winter, its flavour and aroma will remind me of hot summer days. Homemade Raspberry Vinegar is a unique condiment perfect for salad leaves, asparagus tips, in marinades or vinaigrette dressing. It’s easy to make it at home with just a few simple ingredients and a bit of patience. Allow the raspberries to sit in the vinegar for a week, and then let the vinegar rest for a couple of weeks in a pantry, and your patience and work will be rewarded. Find the recipe here.

Pickled cucumber is a delicious addition to charcuterie or cheese board, grate for serving alongside with burgers and sandwiches, as a cocktail condiment and a pickle on skewers. I like it pickled in slightly vinegary brine with aromatic spices: cloves, cardamom pod, mustard and caraway seeds, peppercorns and bay leaf. It has a nice fresh tangy flavour with a little kick and is great just after 3-4 hours in the brine. Pickled cucumber thinly sliced makes wonderful vegetable carpaccio which comes brilliantly with pâté or rillette. Find the recipe here…

I wouldn’t name it mayonnaise but a mayonnaise sauce because it requires a whole egg instead of the egg yolks and its consistency is a bit runny. But this sauce can be a good start of the adventure with emulsions and making the real mayonnaise from scratch. The recipe is fail-proof and super easy, calls for the whole egg, mustard, vegetable oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper – all ingredients at room temperature. You will also need a blender and a jug or a narrow jar that fits the head of the blender. The Whole-Egg Mayonnaise is perfect for salads and can be served as a dip. Find the recipe here…

Homemade Mayonnaise can’t be compared to any jarred stuff. Store-bought condiment usually lists many ingredients such as colouring, sugar or glucose-fructose syrup while real mayonnaise calls only for egg yolks, oil, vinegar or lemon juice, mustard and seasoning. That’s it! The whole process may look a bit fussy and overly complicated but requires, in fact, a bit of patience, a cook’s strong arm and the ingredients at room temperature. Real homemade mayonnaise is delicious!  It contains natural flavours of its ingredients and can be served as a fancy dip with shrimps or vegetables and even with fries. Once you make it yourself, you will never come back to shop-bought mayonnaise. Find the recipe here…