Chilero

Step 1: Sterilise a 1 litre wide-mouthed jar and lid: wash in hot soapy water, rinse, and heat the jar in a 250°F oven for 10 minutes; boil the lid for 5 minutes.

Step 2: Peel the 5 ½ oz carrot and cut it into 5 mm dice. Break the 5 ½ oz cauliflower into tiny florets no bigger than a fingernail. Dice the 1 white onion and cut the 1 ¾ oz green beans into 5 mm pieces.

Step 3: Wearing gloves, slice the 4 chile panameño into thin strips or rings, keeping the seeds. Peel and thinly slice the 2 garlic cloves.

Step 4: Mix all the vegetables, chiles and garlic and pack them loosely into the jar; they should fill only about half of it.

Step 5: Bring the 2 ½ cups white vinegar, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp black peppercorns and 1 bay leaf to a boil in a stainless steel pan over a medium heat, stirring until the salt dissolves, then boil for 1 minute.

Step 6: Pour the boiling vinegar over the vegetables to cover them by at least 2 cm, tapping the jar to release air bubbles. Leave to cool, then close and refrigerate.

Step 7: Wait 3 days before using, shaking the jar once a day. It is ready when the vinegar is faintly yellow and hot and the cauliflower tastes sour right through.

Step 8: Keep in the fridge for up to 2 months, topping up with fresh undiluted vinegar so the vegetables stay covered; use a clean spoon. Throw it away if the vinegar turns cloudy or slimy (it should stay clear), it fizzes, the lid bulges, you see mould or it smells off.