Pickling
Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar.
[5] When both salt concentration and temperature are low, Leuconostoc mesenteroides dominates, producing a mix of acids, alcohol, and aroma compounds.
[8] Pickling vegetables in vinegar continued to develop in the Middle East region before spreading to the Maghreb, to Sicily and to Spain.
[9][11] South Asia has a large variety of pickles (known as achar (अचार, اچار) in Nepali, Assamese, Bengali, Hindi (अचार), Punjabi, Gujarati, Urdu (اچار) uppinakaayi in Kannada, lonacha (लोणचं) in Marathi, uppilittathu or achar in Malayalam, oorukai in Tamil, pacchadi(పచ్చడి) or ooragaya(ఊరగాయ) in Telugu, which are mainly made from varieties of mango, lemon, lime, gongura (a sour leafy shrub), tamarind, Indian gooseberry (amla), and chilli.
Vegetables such as eggplant, carrots, cauliflower, tomato, bitter gourd, green tamarind, ginger, garlic, onion, and citron are also occasionally used.
A popular item is the traditional mixed Hyderabadi pickle, a common delicacy prepared from an assortment of fruits (most notably mangoes) and vegetables blended with selected spices.
[14][15] Singapore, Indonesian and Malaysian pickles, called acar are typically made out of cucumber, carrot, bird's eye chilies, and shallots, these items being seasoned with vinegar, sugar and salt.
Pickling was a common method of preserving a large variety of foods such as fish throughout the archipelago before the advent of refrigeration, but its popularity is now confined to vegetables and fruits.
Atchara is primarily made out of julienned green papaya, carrots, and shallots, seasoned with cloves of garlic and vinegar; but could include ginger, bell peppers, white radishes, cucumbers or bamboo shoots.
Siling labuyo, sometimes with garlic and red onions, is also pickled in bottled vinegar and is a staple condiment in Filipino cuisine.
[citation needed] In Burma, tea leaves are pickled to produce lahpet, which has strong social and cultural importance.
[citation needed] Japanese tsukemono (pickled foods) include takuan (daikon), umeboshi (ume plum), tataki gobo (burdock root), gari and beni shōga (ginger), turnip, cucumber, and Chinese cabbage.
[citation needed] In Iran, Turkey, Arab countries, the Balkans, and the South Caucasus, pickles (called torshi in Persian, turşu in Turkish language and mekhallel in Arabic) are commonly made from turnips, peppers, carrots, green olives, cucumbers, eggplants, cabbage, green tomatoes, lemons, and cauliflower.
Cucumbers, spices, herbs, and slices of bread are put in a glass jar with salt water and kept in direct sunlight for a few days.
The yeast from the bread, along with other pickling agents and spices fermented under the hot sun, give the cucumbers a unique flavor, texture, and slight carbonation.
[citation needed] Romanian pickles (murături) are made out of beetroot, cucumbers, green tomatoes (gogonele), carrots, cabbage, garlic, sauerkraut, bell peppers, melons, mushrooms, turnips, celery and cauliflower.
[citation needed] North Caucasian, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian pickled items include beets, mushrooms, tomatoes, sauerkraut, cucumbers, ramsons, garlic, eggplant (which is typically stuffed with julienned carrots), custard squash, and watermelon.
The leftover brine (called rassol (рассол) in Russian) has a number of culinary uses in these countries, especially for cooking traditional soups, such as shchi, rassolnik, and solyanka.
[citation needed] In Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia and Turkey, mixed pickles, known as turshi, tursija or turshu form popular appetizers, which are typically eaten with rakia.
[citation needed] Turkish pickles, called turşu, are made out of vegetables, roots, and fruits such as peppers, cucumber, Armenian cucumber, cabbage, tomato, eggplant (aubergine), carrot, turnip, beetroot, green almond, baby watermelon, baby cantaloupe, garlic, cauliflower, bean and green plum.
[citation needed] In Spain, pickles, known as "encurtidos", are mainly made with olives, cucumbers, onions and green peppers ("guindillas" or "piparras").
"Banderillas" are small pieces of pickled cucumber and green pepper, along with olives and anchovies, mounted into toothpicks, and are very popular as Tapas.
Chow-chow is a tart vegetable mix popular in the Maritime Provinces and the Southern United States, similar to piccalilli.
Giardiniera, a mixture of pickled peppers, celery and olives, is a popular condiment in Chicago and other Midwestern cities with large Italian-American populations, and is often consumed with Italian beef sandwiches.
Pennsylvania Dutch Country has a strong tradition of pickled foods, including chow-chow and red beet eggs.
[22] In Mexico, chili peppers, particularly of the Jalapeño and serrano varieties, pickled with onions, carrots and herbs form common condiments.
The report, citing limited data in a statistical meta analysis, indicates a potential two-fold increased risk of esophageal cancer associated with Asian pickled vegetable consumption.
[31] However, their results stated "The majority of subgroup analyses showed a statistically significant association between consuming pickled vegetables and Oesophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma".
[33] Roussin red methyl ester,[34] a non-alkylating nitroso compound with tumour-promoting effect in vitro, was identified in pickles from Linzhou, Henan (formerly Linxian) in much higher concentrations than in samples from low-incidence areas.
[36][37] Historically, pickling caused health concerns for reasons associated with copper salts, as explained in the mid-19th century The English and Australian Cookery Book: "The evidence of the Lancet commissioner (Dr. Hassall) and Mr. Blackwell (of the eminent firm of Crosse and Blackwell) went to prove that the pickles sold in the shops are nearly always artificially coloured, and are thus rendered highly unwholesome, if not actually poisonous."
