This season’s oca…..picked & pickled

The oca plants have fully died back and I’ve picked all the tubers…..

…..and started pickling them. Here are the first two jars:

The recipe I use for the pickling liquid is fairly simple:

3/4 cup vinegar ( I use apple cider vinegar)
1/2 cup water
2 tsp dill seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
2 springs fresh dill (place in the jar with the sliced oca)
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp sugar

Mix all in a saucepan and bring just to the boil. Pour over the sliced oca in a pre-heated jar.

I like oca fresh, either raw or pickled. I know there are people who rave about it roasted, but to me it’s yuk. The texture goes like mashed potatoes and the flavour is like old socks (no, I’ve never eaten old socks, but you know what I mean!). Maybe I cook it for too long, I don’t know. Or maybe I have a different variety to other people. I think I’ll try gently steaming a few tubers in the Thermomix. If that can’t do it, nothing will!

Some of the biggest tubers, scrubbed and ready to go:

They don’t need peeling. They’re crunchy and slightly lemony. If left in the sun for a few days after harvesting, they sweeten up a bit.

I’ll be posting out tubers this week to those who asked for some.