In a Pickle
Pickling, fermenting, preserving, OH MY! What do they all mean and why do they matter?
I don't like to waste food. I never have liked the idea. Since we've been shopping farmers markets and local farmers, we waste much less food.
One thing I've learned is that buying the 'exact right' amount of food each week is an art form. One that I have NOT mastered. Some weeks, I have too much and other weeks I don't have enough. More than I can cook and more than 2 people can eat, before it goes bad. The weeks where I have just the right amount are very few.
I was faced with the issue of having too much food this past week. Believe it or not, I had a dream that solved my problem! I was looking at the food on hand and what had been ordered and saw that I had too much. I even mentioned it to my husband. And said that perhaps I could freeze some of it.
Friday night, I had a dream. In that dream I was pickling cauliflower! When I woke up, I realized that was an excellent idea. Maybe I could even pickle some zucchini? I’ve pickled beets and banana peppers. But never cauliflower. And never zucchini.
It was also right in line with a conversation I had with a friend last week. There are cooking techniques and ideas that I have long wanted to explore, but haven't yet. Things like working more with herbs and even growing them. And learning more about pickling, fermentation and preserving food. And, making sourdough bread.
In fact, it has been ten years since I bought this book, "The Art of Fermentation." And I have yet to really dig into it. Perhaps it is time?
What does it all mean, though?
Is pickling fermentation? What is the difference?
I'm no expert, but here is the simple answer:
Pickling is a form of preserving foods that uses an acid, usually vinegar but lime or lemon juice and other acids can also be used. The primary purpose here is to preserve the food for later use.
Fermentation is a process that uses beneficial lactic acid bacteria that occur naturally in the environment. Fermented foods will have enhanced nutritional benefits from the fermentation process. Fermented vegetables need to be refrigerated, so they are not preserved. Fermented foods can also be the source of the probiotics I mentioned when talking about inflammation.
Fermentation can be much more than that though. Many beverages, including beers and wines, are products of fermentation. And there are many other foods produced through fermentation. In fact, I've been working with fermentation for years making yeast breads and also making yogurt.
Soon, I want to begin exploring making bread with sourdough starter. A way to up the fermentation game with bread baking.
This Is Not New
Once upon a time, in the days before Big Food and before the modern super markets, our ancestors knew the basics of pickling and fermenting and preserving foods. It's definitely a lost art. My grandmother, my father's mother, used to make the best green beans on the planet. She canned them, in actual cans! I always looked forward to packages from her because they often included her canned green beans! I'm not sure I want to work with metal cans, but I would love to learn more about 'canning' using glass jars.
Back to my excess bounty of food.
I decided to pickle the cauliflower and the zucchini. Not together, although I could have done that. I loosely followed this recipe — Pickled Squash — with some modifications. I’ll post the recipe at a later date.
This recipe is actually for what are called refrigerator pickles. There is no sterilization and they must be refrigerated. With sterilization, they could last longer and be stored on the shelf. This is a goal I have for the near future. These pickled zucchini and pickled cauliflower should last a couple of months in the fridge, though.
How do they taste? I’ll let you know next week. I made them on Monday and won’t taste them until Tuesday or Wednesday!
In other news, my husband and I celebrated our 20 year wedding anniversary last week. TWENTY YEARS, Y'ALL! Can you believe it? Still hard for me to believe. Of course, I did not cook that night, instead we went out to dinner!
Congrats kids! 20 years with your best friend!