Kate Winslet's Mum Champion Onion Pickler
Sally Winslet Named Queen of Shallots in Reading, England
Mar 1, 2009
When Oscar® winner Kate Winslet is onscreen she slowly, sensuously reveals the layers of her character. The obsessions, the flaws, and the loves of that character trickle onscreen as the film unfurls.
So it’s no surprise that the British actress’s mum, Sally Winslet, is also an expert of sorts when it comes to layers – of the vegetable variety.
Kate’s Mum is Queen of Shallots
Sally Winslet was named Queen of the Shallots for the third time in February, days before her daughter took top prize at the Academy Awards for her performance in The Reader.
A Lot of Good Onions
Sally won the annual onion pickling contest at a local East Reading pub, making it the third time in a row she excelled at the competition. When she accepted the title, Sally told a local British newspaper how she makes the special concoction:
“There are a lot of good onions here. I just boil up the spices with sugar and when the balsamic vinegar is cold I pour it over the onions.”
Over the past six months, pickling has reportedly picked up steam and become a popular pastime in the sleepy area. Anna Winslet, Kate's sister and Sally's daughter, who was on hand at the competition, reportedly said, "Everyone should be a pickler." No word on Kate Winslet's pickling skills, although she is apparently an enthusiastic and accident-prone cook.
The local paper also reported that Sally was not the first choice, and that the Queen of Shallots title originally went to competition organizer and pub owner Jane Marsden. But Marsden – who runs the St John’s Street pub with partner Bernie Whiten – honourably gave up the title.
Beth Winslet Took Third Place
Sally’s youngest daughter Beth Winslet came in third in the pickling competition. Martin Hoare, a fellow pickler from West Reading, was awarded second place.
Sally, who attended the event with her husband, Roger, and daughters Beth and Anna, as well as extended family, said: “There are a lot of good onions here. I am not entirely sure which ones my onions are.”
Anna Winslet accepted third prize on Beth’s behalf, who had left early with her newborn daughter. She explained that the competition is about the quest for the perfect onion – something which has never before been achieved.
“You need to go to the days of ploughman’s and courtesans to find the perfect onion.”
Anna pointed out that she had prepared onions for the competition but ate them before she could enter them.
“I love pickling,” she added, explaining that she and her husband regularly pickled “like a production line”.
Will Wolfgang Puck Offer Pickled Onions?
No word on whether famed chef Wolfgang Puck will add pickled onions to the 2010 Academy Awards after-party dinner. Or whether Kate Winslet intends to start selling her mother's prize-winning pickles in a brand that could rival Newman's Own (by Paul Newman). Stay tuned.
