Persian Tarragon Pickles

When you consider the inherent beauty of things in jars, this is what you might be imagining: bright green, slender cucumbers, papery garlic cloves, deep red chiles, sprays of coriander heads, a tangle of oceanic-looking tarragon rising from the bottom of the jar—all surrounded by a clear, cold brine.

My mom and her friend Shalah Williams wrote down Shalah’s recipe for the pickles she remembered from her family’s home in I