This recipe has been submitted by  Kirsten Harbott and is from a book called “The little green preserve book”. She says: "It was published in Denmark for the first time, I think, at the beginning of the 20^th C by the housewives association. As far as I know it is still in print. My copy was given to me by my mother in 1975. At that time it was in its 50^th edition and over 1 million copies had been printed"

Ingredients

You will need a marrow (or pumpkin) weighing approximately 3.5 lbs or 1.5 kg. For the brine:

• 2 pints (1 litre) water,
• 3 ounces (100 grams) of salt,
• 7 fluid ounces (200 ml) vinegar.

For the pickling syrup:

• 14 fluid ounces (400 ml) vinegar,
• 3 fluid ounces (100 ml) water,
• 12 ounces (350 grams) sugar,
• 3 whole cloves or more if you like.

Method

Peel, cut in half lengthways and remove seeds with a spoon. Cut the marrow into 1 cm half-moon shaped pieces. (Pumpkin can also be used). Place the marrow pieces in the brine for 24 hours, weighed down, so they are well covered. The next day mix the ingredients for the pickling syrup and rinse the marrow pieces well. Bring the syrup to the boil, add the marrow pieces and remove with a slotted spoon when boil has been reached again. Place them in sterilised jars. Bring the syrup back to a rolling boil and leave to bubble for 5 – 10 minutes until it thickens slightly and appears shiny. Pour the syrup over the marrow in the jars leaving 1 cm headspace and cover in the usual way.  

Kirsten Harbott, member of Oundle Transition Town Food Group