Perfect Pickle

Pickling is a way of preserving and transforming food. Often it relies on the effects of salt and vinegar, but not always. In this book we try to enlarge the subject, and to show there’s much more to pickling than just onions in malt vinegar. It is a fact of life that food deteriorates and goes bad. Enzymes in the food itself cause the browning of cut surfaces and the change from pectin to pectic acid in over-ripe fruit. Yeasts, moulds and bacteria also attack food. Pickling is intended to keep the bacteria at bay. Originally it was a way of simply preserving seasonal crops through the year, but nowadays it can be used to create a whole larder full of new flavours and textures. New foods, in fact.

EQUIPMENT

One of the advantages of pickling is that it requires no special or expensive equipment.Most items are standard issue in any kitchen: sharp stainless steel knives which will not discolour fruit and vegetables; a large wooden chopping board; a colander; scales; a plastic or stainless steel funnel; a sieve; mixing bowls; stainless steel saucepans. It is important that you avoid copper, brass or iron pans which will react with the vinegar, discolour the pickles and produce unpleasant and potentially dangerous results. In addition, aluminium should never be used.

Also you will need teaspoons and tablespoons for measuring and a set of wooden spoons for stirring and mixing. Don’t use metal spoons when dealing with vinegar or brine.

An earthenware crock is very handy when pickling meat and fish, for salting cabbage and other vegetables and for making large quantities of any pickle.

The essential piece of equipment for making chutneys (as well as jams and marmalades) is a large stainless steel preserving pan, preferably with handles for safe and easy lifting.

Jars and containers are easy to come by. Unless you are making pickles for competition, there’s no point in spending a lot of money on special jars. Collect empty jam jars, coffee jars, even re-cycled pickle jars, and ask your friends to let you have any they don’t want. Pubs and restaurants are often a good source of large, wide-mouthed jars that are useful for pickled eggs and other big items. Try to use clear glass jars if possible, as well-made pickles are a treat for the eye.

Covering the jars is important. In the past there were all kinds of tricks, from writing paper soaked in brandy to melted paraffin wax or mutton fat. Avoid any cap or lid with a bare metal lining: vinegar will cause this to corrode and taint the pickle. The best are twist-on tops with a plastic, vinegar-proof lining. These are available in most good kitchen shops and in branches of Lakeland Limited, who also supply other pickling and preserving accessories.

Chutneys can be covered with waxed paper discs and clear cellophane, although they must be stored in a very dry place. Otherwise the twist-on tops used for pickles are just as effective, and are more convenient once the jar has been opened.

WHAT CAN BE PICKLED?

The answer is virtually any kind of fruit, vegetable, and herb, as well as all sorts of meat, fish, poultry and game. During our travels we have seen everything from little Japanese aubergines to Spanish caper berries that look like bald gooseberries on a stalk.We have uncovered recipes for pickling eels and pigeons and guinea fowl eggs; we have even tasted pickled crabs and grasshoppers, but we won’t be supplying recipes for these esoteric delicacies!

Anyone who has a garden or allotment can tailor their cultivation to the needs of the kitchen, and that includes pickling. Most produce is grown for eating fresh, but it is easy to take advantage of gluts, and grow specifically with pickling in mind: for example, pick your baby green tomatoes when they are the size of grapes, or allow a few of your radishes to flower and go to seed so you can harvest the pods for pickling.

Whether you are growing and picking your own or buying from the market, there are a few golden rules. Above all, use the freshest produce you can lay your hands on. Pick from the garden and pickle within 24 hours. Don’t be tempted to use pickling as an excuse for using up left- overs or stuff that would be better put on the compost heap. Second-rate ingredients produce second-rate pickles. Also try to follow the seasons, buy what is at its peak, and watch for bargains. Changes in cultivation and the fact that much produce is now imported mean that some vegetables, such as red cabbage, are now available right through the year, not just in the winter months.

Wild food can also be pickled. Our forebears took full advantage of a rich variety of herbs, nuts, berries and fungi—most of which are still to be found around the country. A glance through almost any recipe book of the seventeenth or eighteenth century would reveal pickles made from marsh samphire, alexander buds, ash keys, elder buds and much more. Armed with a copy of Food for Free by Richard Mabey you can track down many of these items and use them for exciting new pickles.

In Britain, we are still nervous about picking and eating wild fungi. Not so in Poland or Italy, where they are an essential part of the larder and are pickled as a matter of course. Scores of edible varieties grow in Britain, and they are worth getting to know. Obviously it is essential that you make use of a good identification guide.We would recommend Mushrooms and Other Fungi of Great Britain and Europe by Roger Phillips: it is clear, comprehensive and inspires confidence.

HERBS AND SPICES

Most pickles are brightened up with herbs and spices. They add bite, heat, fragrance and often colour as well. If possible use fresh or freshly picked herbs and don’t be afraid to use them generously: a sprig of fresh tarragon can transform a jar of pickled onions. Dried herbs do have their uses, especially in chutneys and other preserves that need to be cooked, but remember they taste stronger than their fresh counterparts, and can lose all flavour if they are old.With dried herbs, the rule is to buy small quantities regularly.

The same applies to spices. Always use whole spices, unless the recipe specifically states ‘ground’: they have a much higher concentration of aromatic oils, and consequently more flavour.Most supermarkets, good wholefood stores and grocers sell just about everything you might need.

The quantities of herbs and spices given in the recipes are guidelines, rather than hard and fast rules. Don’t be afraid to adapt, experiment, improvise and invent new flavours. And follow your own palate; if you don’t like the flavour of cinnamon in pickled shallots, leave it out. In practice it will make very little difference to a pickle whether you use a 5 cm (2 inch) or 7.5 cm (3 inch) piece of fresh root ginger.

SALT

Salt is a preservative as well as a flavouring. It works in a complicated way by osmosis. Skin and cell membranes are semi-permeable: they allow liquid to pass through them, but the flow is always from the less concentrated to the more concentrated solution.When fruit, vegetables, meat or fish are put into salt or a strong solution of brine, liquid is rapidly drawn out of the tissues. At the same time, salt starts to flow much more slowly from the brine into tissues. This two-way traffic continues until the concentration of the brine and the cell fluids is the same. The salt has then ‘struck through’. The combination of salt in the tissues and the lack of moisture inhibits the growth of micro-organisms, thus preserving the food.

Many pickle recipes include dry salting or steeping in brine as the first stage in the process, before the vinegar is added. Other pickles— particularly from Eastern Europe and Japan—are based purely on salt or brine.When making up a brine, use 50 g (2 oz) salt per 600 ml (1 PINT) water. In most cases salting and brining can be done overnight: any longer and the salt flavour is likely to be too strong. Dry salting is best if you want a very crisp pickle.

There are four main types of salt: rock salt, which can be bought as unrefined crystals or, in a more refined state but without the addition of any chemicals, as ‘block’ or ‘kitchen’ salt; sea salt, which is produced by the evaporation of sea water using artificial heat; bay salt, which is similar but produced by natural evaporation using the heat of the sun; and the most common, table salt, which is highly refined and normally mixed with anti-caking agents such as magnesium carbonate and sodium hexacyanoferrate II to give it free-running qualities.

If possible, avoid table salt for pickling: it is not as pure as the other types and has a dull flavour. The additional chemicals also slow down the rate at which the salt (sodium chloride) penetrates the tissues. Other kinds of salt may cost a little more, but they are worth it.

VINEGAR

Most pickles contain vinegar of some kind. Like salt it is a preservative, but it works rather differently. Bacteria and moulds grow best in a neutral or slightly alkaline solution. If the acidity is increased, bacterial growth is reduced. Vinegar contains acetic acid, usually about 5%, and this inhibits growth—especially if it is used with salt.Most commercially sold vinegar is required to have an acetic acid content of about 5%, and you can increase the concentration simply by boiling the vinegar for about 10 minutes before you use it.

There are several kinds of vinegar with different uses and qualities, but it’s best to avoid anything that is dubiously labelled ‘non-brewed condiment’. One further tip: if you are planning to pickle in bulk, it’s worth doing a deal with a local pub or restaurant: chefs in the business are generally able to obtain vinegar (and other raw materials) at wholesale or trade price.

Malt vinegar: The cheapest and most widely available vinegar, whose flavour has dominated English pickles for more than a century. As the name suggests it is made from malted barley, sometimes with cereal grain added. The starch in these raw materials is converted into sugars, which are fermented to give alcohol and finally acetic acid. Some brands are now produced without proper fermentation and many are also coloured with caramel. Malt vinegar does have a limited use, but the trend is definitely towards other vinegars with a finer, more subtle flavour.We would not recommend commercial ready-spiced malt vinegar: it is dull and predictable. Much better to spice your own to suit your needs and the pickles you are making.

White (distilled) vinegar: This is produced by distilling malt vinegar. It is colourless, and has a less pungent, sharper flavour. It is useful where the colour of the pickle is important, such as with red cabbages or French beans.

Spirit vinegar: This is made by fermenting molasses. It is not normally sold in the shops, but is used for the commercial manufacture of pickles because it has a very high acetic acid content (usually 10–13%). The brutal acidity of many manufactured pickles is due to spirit vinegar.

Cider vinegar: Time and again during our travels we have heard people recommending cider vinegar as the ideal pickling medium. This byproduct of making cider has two great advantages: its mild, slightly fruity flavour and its quality. Some of the best brands, such as Aspall, are also produced from organically grown fruit.

Wine vinegar: Chemically, this results from the fermentation of sugar in grapes to give alcohol, which is in turn fermented to form acetic acid. In practice, however, it is usually made directly from wine. The two most common are white-wine and red-wine vinegars, but there are more exclusive variations such as Champagne vinegar and Italian balsamic vinegar, which is made from the cooked and concentrated must of white grapes from Trebbiano, aged in wooden kegs for at least ten years. Although wine vinegars are expensive, the quality and flavour is excellent. In some recipes it is a good idea to mix wine vinegar with wine of the same colour to produce a slightly different effect.

Rice vinegar: An import from the Far East, and in particular, Japan, where it is called su. The pale yellow liquid has a very distinct, mild flavour. Although it is not used a great deal for Japanese pickles, it has been taken up by many enterprising cooks who are starting to fuse the traditions of east and west. Rice vinegar is available from specialist oriental food shops as well as wholefood stores and supermarkets.

ALTERNATIVES AND VARIATIONS

Flavoured and herb vinegars can also be used for pickles, but that is only half the story. In Japan, most everyday pickles use a mixture of rice bran, beer and salt; it is possible to pickle onions in Chinese soy or Japanese shoyu sauces; even saké (rice wine) is used occasionally. There’s also a South American tradition of pickling fish in citrus fruit juice. In India many pickles use salt and mustard oil; in the Mediterranean, salt, wine vinegar and olive oil are common. Alcoholic liquors and spirits can also be used for pickling. In short, the possibilities are enormous.

TIPS FOR GOOD PICKLING

Pickling isn’t an exact science, but it has ground rules. Follow these and you will have many more successes than failures.

Always use prime fresh ingredients. Discard any that are blemished, damaged or past their best.

Choose your vinegar wisely so that it enhances, rather than swamps, the flavour and appearance of the pickle.

Never use copper, brass, iron, or aluminium pans when making pickles.

In general, use dry-salting for pickles that are meant to be crisp, and brining for those that are soft.

Make your own spiced vinegar using fresh whole spices. These can be boiled in the vinegar (either loose or in a muslin bag) for about 10 minutes. In some pickles it is essential to have the spices in the jar; in others they are simply used to flavour the vinegar and are strained off before bottling.

Jars should be cleaned in boiling water with soap, put upside down on a cloth to drain, then left to dry and warm at the bottom of a cool oven—gas mark 1 or 2, 275°–300°F (140°–150°C)—until needed. Don’t dry the inside of the jars with a cloth as this may do more harm than good by spreading bacteria. The jars must be warm, not hot. In some cases it may be necessary to sterilise jars before using them as containers.