I don't think I could live without kimchi

UNTIL fairly recently, the jars of pickles many of us came into contact with most were the gigantic ones on the counter at the chippy, afloat with whole boiled eggs like specimens in formaldehyde. Or the gherkins in a McDonald's Quarter Pounder...

- By ELLA WALKER

But things are changing - Britain is cottoning on to a culinary tradition that deliciously fuels large swathes of Eastern Europe and Asia. So it’s not just fancy delis and farmers’ markets stacked with artisan kimchis and sauerkrauts now, but supermarkets too. Nick Vadasz, aka The Picklesman, the founder of Vadasz Pickles & Ferments, has run the gamut, from starting his street food pickle outfit in a shipping container, to launching his ferments in grocery stores.

"I always wanted for people to enjoy our products beyond the middle class foodies that go to farmers’ markets, of which I am one,” he says wryly. “But the fact we're in Tesco now and Morrisons is brilliant. It means everyone can go and try kimchi or sauerkraut.”

You can also now make his pickles at home. His debut cookbook, The Pickle Jar, explains the basics of pickling and fermentation, before showing how to use them in meals - from chicken salad with fermented celery, to pea and pickle soup - rather than just “sticking them in a sandwich”.