The Boy and his Poison: The Pickleback

When life hands you crackling, you make picklebacks.

The pickleback is an American BBQ staple which started popping up in London a few years ago as the BBQ meat scene established itself. It's a simple serve of a shot of irish whisky followed by a shot of the pickling juice from the pickles you'd be served along with your slow braised cuts of meat. It sounds wrong, but it's a delicious combination.

You can use a shot of pickle juice from a shop-bought jar of pickle or you can go all out and make your own. Either way, the Pickleback is going to unexpectedly going to become your new favourite drink. The pork scratching really isn't optional, but you knew that already.

The Pickleback
You will need:

• A nice bottle of Irish whisky (personally I prefer bourbon/rye)
• 250ml cider vinegar
• 25g salt
• 200g sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 Sprigs of dill
• 1 Cucumber
• 2 Shallots
• Roasted pork scratching (you've probably already bookmarked our pork scratching recipe)

To make the pickle:

1. Add the water, cider vinegar, salt, sugar, ginger, turmeric and mustard seeds to a medium sized saucepan
2. Bring to a boil and continue to boil for 5 more minutes.
3. Slice cucumbers (I decided to go for a mix of quartered and sliced), finely slice the shallots and rip the dill into four pieces.
4. Drop your ingredients into a clean jar and pour over the pickling juice
5. Leave to cool for an hour then refrigerate for at least a day.

Now Serve:

1. Pour a 50ml shot of your whisky 
2. Strain a 50ml shot of your cold pickle juice
3. Knock them back in that order and be prepared for your love affair with the Pickleback to begin.