My best friend Janet and I walked together for miles as children; we walked to buy fireworks and sparklers in November and in the Summer we would make the long walk over the allotments to creep up and listen to the homing pigeons coo-cooing in their lofts.

Janet’s Dad was the Winder at the Pit and he operated the giant winding wheel lowering and raising the colliers, equipment and coal up and down to the pit in the cage. Every step to visit him in the winding house was over heavily creosoted railway sleepers, picking yellow Coltsfoot flowers and swopping secrets as we went.

But the walk we loved most of all, was the walk to the Fish and Chip shop 4 miles away. Arriving cold and hungry on a dark Winters nights, we would gaze, mesmerized by the golden glow of the battered fish and sausages in the hot cupboard, as though we had found the Holy Grail. Then, clutching vinegar scented, warm newspaper packages we would laugh all the way home about the jar of surreal, glassy, white pickled eggs on the counter. We both said we would never, ever eat one of those!

And I was right; we didn’t, until I started making Beetroot Pickled Eggs. Here all the sharpness of vinegar is softened by the sweet, earthy taste of beetroot and the mellow richness of free range eggs. With their show-stopping colour and flavour there is ALWAYS a of jar of these gem like pickles in my fridge.

I  think everyone knows about this recipe until I serve these rather extrovert, party loving eggs with Italian hams, salamis, celeriac remoulade and crusty rolls and everyone wants the recipe. Beetroot is in season and inexpensive now, so if you don’t have any in the garden, why not buy a bunch and give this recipe a try?

For the recipe for Beetroot Pickled Eggs click here