From fermenting plums in honey and pickling courgettes in vinegar brine to a British take on kimchi, there are many ways to make the most of the warm-weather harvest

What’s the best way to preserve late-summer fruit and veg?
Jess, by email
Fruit, fruit everywhere, so try fermenting it in honey, says Rachel de Thample, author of The Fermentation Year (published in September). “I’m currently looking at a jar of blackberries, but whole plums would be gorgeous, too,” she says, especially when eaten with blue cheese – “or any cheese, really” – meat or fish; you can also use the syrup like maple syrup or cordial. De Thample packs the fruit into sterilised jars and pours in just enough honey to cover it: “If the fruit has a low acidity, add a spoonful of lemon juice or a splash of cider vinegar as well.” Pop on the lid and leave for a few weeks. “It gets fizzy, but it doesn’t get to that explosive stage, because it has quite a concentrated sugar content. It’ll keep for up to a year at room temperature, but I normally pop it in the fridge after a few weeks.”

Kimchi is another option to keep Jess enjoying summer fruits all year round. “In Korea, apples and pears are traditional, but there’s a kimchi for every season and region,” says De Thample, who takes a British approach with a courgette, blackcurrant and strawberry number: “You can use up tomatoes in the paste, too.” Otherwise, if you have plums and damsons, take inspiration from Japanese umeboshi: “That has a high percentage of salt – I use 15% per 100g fruit. Layer the salt and plums in jars and, if it’s really dry, pour over water; otherwise, just crush a couple of the plums so their juices create a brine with the salt.” The brine can then be used like a plummy soy sauce, De Thample says: “Having a few jars stored away always makes me feel like I’m winning.” Damsons are also a dream in flavoured liquors, says Kenji Morimoto, regular Guardian contributor and author of Ferment: “That’s a really nice way to capture their flavour, and all you need is vodka, the fruit and rock [or granulated] sugar.

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An intriguing and refreshing hot-cold combo of eggy rice, butter, cold cucumber sauce and pickles

When cooking on a weeknight, it’s easy to forget that sometimes experimenting with temperature is as important as flavour. Hot things combined with very cold things are exceptionally refreshing in the summer, and also make the mundane more exciting and playful. This dish of hot rice, hot butter, cold cucumber sauce, hot egg and cold pickles might sound, well, a bit weird, but I promise it’s delicious, comforting and also cooling.

Good Time Cooking: Show-Stopping Menus for Easy Entertaining, by Rosie Mackean, is published by Pavilion Books at £26. To order a copy for £23.40, visit guardianbookshop.com