Pickle

Appears in

Published 2014

About

pickle as a verb, to preserve foods, especially vegetables, fruits, meat, and fish, in a preserving medium with a strong salt or acid content; as a noun, either the product of the process or the liquid or paste which is the preserving medium.

Immersing foods in vinegar or brine, or a mixture of the two, is a long-established way of preserving foods. Highly acidic solutions and strong salt solutions prevent micro-organisms from growing and enzymes from working (see preservation). The acetic acid in vinegar has a disinfectant effect, so that vinegar is a better preservative than other acid liquids of the same strength.

Most pickled foods use vinegar, but there are exceptions. A few recipes use lemon or lime juice. Pickled cucumbers (‘dill pickles’ in the USA) are often prepared in brine alone, and fermented by bacteria naturally present which produce lactic acid. A similar method is used for pickled olives (among the pickles appreciated by Greeks and Romans in classical times), for the beetroots used for making Russian borshch, and also for Chinese ‘Sichuan preserved vegetable’, Japanese pickled daikon (see radish), Korean kimch’i, and some other oriental pickles. sauerkraut, not usually thought of as a pickle, also depends on lactic fermentation. The noun ‘pickle’ is also applied to the mixture of salt, saltpetre, and spices used to cure meats such as ham and bacon. ‘Pickled herring’ is a vague term that can apply to salted herring or to recipes in which vinegar is used, usually for immediate eating rather than keeping.

Any type of vinegar may be used. British pickles are usually put up in malt vinegar; strong distilled vinegar is used for watery foods which would otherwise dilute the acid excessively (acidity must not drop below pH 4.0), or for light-coloured mixtures whose appearance would be spoilt by the brown tinge of malt vinegar. In wine producing countries wine vinegar is used. Oriental pickles are made with rice vinegar.

Fruit preserved in alcohol or purely by sugar, as in jam, is not thought of as constituting a pickle, but there are many borderline cases in which sugar plays an important part as a preservative, e.g. sweet pickles and chutneys or relishes. Sugar is in any case often added to pickling solutions, both for its flavour and for its preservative effect. Mustard, ground or as whole seeds, is another common addition which helps to preserve the pickle. Piccalilli, a sweet mustard pickle of mixed vegetables, is an example (British piccalilli is much more chutney-like than the US variety, but both contain large amounts of mustard). The Italian mostarda di frutta di Cremona is a curious sweet fruit pickle largely preserved by mustard.

Almost any spice may be used in pickling. A typical British mixture consists of whole black and white peppercorns, mustard seed, allspice, coriander seed, mace, and a clove, perhaps with a chilli pepper for extra bite. In continental Europe garlic is often added. Some pickles contain turmeric, as much for its colour as for its flavour. A small amount of alum is sometimes added to pickled vegetables to keep them from softening.

Most pickles, except for lactic varieties and a few others meant for immediate use, are heated to boiling point to sterilize them. Pickles intended to be kept usually need time to mature, typically six months. During this time the flavours of the spices infuse and blend.

In the Near East the pickle table features pickled turnip among many other items. Pickled eggs are a traditional speciality in Britain and elsewhere. There is an American watermelon rind pickle. In India, limes are pickled in their own juice. And so on. But the top country for pickles is generally accepted to be Japan.