Pickling as a process has been around for thousands of years, sustaining people through winters, expeditions, wars, and famine. Every cuisine has at least a handful of pickled things, and with its variety of salty, sour, sweet, and hot flavors, pickled food is almost universally appealing. Mostly we now pickle not to preserve but because we like the flavor.
Pickling occurs when food is put in an environment that prevents the growth of harmful microbes. There are two basic methods for preserving food this way: by using vinegar (an acid) or by salting (using straight salt or a saltwater brine). Through osmosis, the vinegar replaces water in the food’s cells. Salting is a slightly less direct and more complex process, in which the salt draws out the food’s natural water and allows just enough bacterial growth to produce lactic acid, which then ferments and pickles the food. (Kimchi, page 93, is a perfect example of this salt-pickling process.) Salt is also used when pickling with vinegar, to draw out water and crisp the vegetables and to keep the vinegar that seeps into the vegetable or fruit undiluted.
The trouble with vinegar is that it’s often overwhelmingly strong-tasting, and in order to have a true preservative effect, you need a lot. I’d rather reduce the amount of vinegar and sacrifice longevity so that other flavors are more prominent. So the recipes here deliver pickles that keep for days, not weeks. These are not for canning, or long-keeping; they’re pickles for pickle lovers.
There are only a few guidelines here: Use the freshest foods for pickling; produce that has blemishes or soft spots will start with more of the harmful microbes you want to avoid. Also, consider the size and density of the fruit or vegetable; smaller and softer pieces pickle more quickly than larger pieces.