Introduction To Pickle

Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects the food's texture, taste and flavour. The resulting food is called a pickle, or, to prevent ambiguity, prefaced with pickled. Foods that are pickled include vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, dairy and eggs.

A jar of pickled cucumbers (front) and a jar of pickled onions (back)

A distinguishing characteristic is a pH of 4.6 or lower, which is sufficient to kill most bacteria. Pickling can preserve perishable foods for months. Antimicrobial herbs and spices, such as mustard seed, garlic, cinnamon or cloves, are often added. If the food contains sufficient moisture, a pickling brine may be produced simply by adding dry salt. For example, sauerkraut and Korean kimchi are produced by salting the vegetables to draw out excess water. Natural fermentation at room temperature, by lactic acid bacteria, produces the required acidity. Other pickles are made by placing vegetables in vinegar. Like the canning process, pickling (which includes fermentation) does not require that the food be completely sterile before it is sealed. The acidity or salinity of the solution, the temperature of fermentation, and the exclusion of oxygen determine which microorganisms dominate, and determine the flavour of the end product.

When both salt concentration and temperature are low, Leuconostoc mesenteroides dominates, producing a mix of acids, alcohol, and aroma compounds. At higher temperatures Lactobacillus planetarium dominates, which produces primarily lactic acid. Many pickles start with Leuconostoc, and change to Lactobacillus with higher acidity.

HISTORY OF ORIGIN OF PICKLE

Pickling likely first originated in the Indus Valley Civilization in northwest India around 2400 BCE. New York Food Museums’s Pickle History section points out the archaeological evidence of cucumbers native to India being pickled and exported to the Tigris Valley of Iraq in 2030 BCE. Indian pickles are mostly prepared in three ways: salt/brine, oil, and vinegar, with mango pickle being most popular among all. Pickling was used as a way to preserve food for out-of-season use and for long journeys, especially by sea. Salt pork and salt beef were common staples for sailors before the days of steam engines. Although the process was invented to preserve foods, pickles are also made and eaten because people enjoy the resulting flavours. Pickling may also improve the nutritional value of food by introducing B vitamins produced by bacteria.

ETYMOLOGY 

Though pickle originated in India where it is called the "achar", the English term "pickle" comes from the Dutch word "pekel" which refers to the brine. Hobson-Jobson's Definitive Glossary of British India states that the Indian word "āchār" was also mentioned in 1563 CE book authored by the Portuguese physician Garcia da Orta who mentions Indians of the Portuguese Indian colony of Goa preserving cashew with salt Indians called "Āchār". The Indian food scientist K. T. Achaya explains in his A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food that pickling is cooking without fire. He further adds that the Hindu text the Linga Purana (variously dated from 5th to 10th/15th CE) in Kannada language by Gurulinga Desika provides 50 pickle recipes, and achar also finds mention in the King of Keladi "Basavappa Nayaka" (r. 1697–1714 CE) work Śivatattvaratnākara. With the expansion of Indosphere cultural influence of Greater India, through transmission of Hinduism in Southeast Asia and the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism leading to Indianization of Southeast Asia with non-Indian southeast Asian native Indianized kingdoms adopting Sanskritization of their languages and honorific titles as well as ongoing historic expansion of Indian diaspora has resulted in many overseas places and food items having Indianised names, including adoption of Indian achaar pickle as atchara in Philippines and acar in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

In the U.S. and Canada, and sometimes Australia and New Zealand, the word pickle alone almost always refers to a pickled cucumber, except when it is used figuratively. It may also refer to other

types of pickles such as "pickled onion", "pickled cauliflower", etc. In the UK, pickle, as in a "cheese and pickle sandwich", may also refer to Ploughman's pickle, a British version of Indian chutney.