I’D CERTAINLY EATEN ORDINARY PICKLED EGGS AT cafés, diners, and picnics while growing up in the Carolinas, but it was not till I went to Indianola, Mississippi, to visit a large catfish cooperative that I was first exposed to hard-boiled eggs pickled in vinegar and beet juice. As it turned out, red eggs are a beloved specialty in both Mississippi and Louisiana Delta households and restaurants, served not only with cold cuts but also as an appetizer at fish dinners. Some home cooks will typically use the liquid derived from boiling beets to make red eggs, but most of the locals I encountered simply open a can of cooked beets—as I do. Another popular way of serving these colorful eggs is atop a bed of wilted beet greens, with or without a few sliced beets.

Makes 1 dozen eggs

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups cider vinegar
• 1 cup beet juice from canned beets
• 2 small red chile peppers
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 10 dried coriander seeds
• 10 whole allspice
• 6 whole cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sliver fresh nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 large hard-boiled eggs

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the eggs.
2. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool.
4. Pack the hard-boiled eggs into large canning jars.
5. Pour enough of the vinegar mixture into the jars to just cover the eggs.
6. Screw the jar tops tightly.
7. Refrigerate the jars for at least 1 week before serving.