‘Do you think housewives would buy another woman’s kimchi?’
‘Why not! Don’t you think I make good kimchi? My family cook made the finest pickles in Pyongyang.’
Pachinko, Min Jin Lee
There’s little doubt that summer is the more natural time of year to be pickling. There is bountiful produce on offer, but I find that I never want to stand too long over the hob when it’s hot. Instead, it’s leisurely winter afternoons that I want to spend surrounded by mismatched jars and the scent of vinegar and sugar. To restrict your pickling to summer means missing out on wintery citrus fruit, or fiery kimchi made from crisp cabbages.
I keep endless jars of pickles and preserves in my cupboard, and regularly find myself reaching for them when pulling together a quick lunch. Though they take time to prepare, they’re worth the investment: a batch can last you for months and will provide a happy companion to innumerable dishes. They’re an ideal use for a glut of vegetables too – if you’re forever finding half-eaten, rotten cucumbers or mouldy carrots at the bottom of your fridge drawer, consider extending their life by pickling while they’re still fresh. Once sealed up in jars, the key to pickles is time. Though I technically shouldn’t advise you to do so, I’ve left unopened jars for years, happening across them during a kitchen clear-out, and digging into them long after anything else would be inedible.
It is time, too, that pickles require on the page. The women in Pachinko, who make as many jars of kimchi as their small kitchen can handle, spend their days preparing the pickle, then waiting for it to age. Little Women’s Amy’s pickled limes, revered at school and passed secretly under desks during morning lessons, were likely made many months before, then preserved in brine and sent in ships across the Atlantic. Mrs Glover’s famous piccalilli, kept for the winter, and requested by the doctor who delivers Ursula in Life After Life (again and again), prompts him to refer to her as ‘she of the excellent pickles’. These are wonderful books to read while your vinegar simmers away; with the chill of winter in their pages and a focus on the passage of time.