We’re in the midst of pickle-making season, so now would be a good time to put up a batch or two. Or 20!
The two basic styles of pickles are fresh pack and cured. In both styles, acid is the key to their safety. It’s either added to the cucumbers – typically, in the form of vinegar – as in the case of fresh-pack pickles, or the cucumbers are induced to create their own by undergoing fermentation, which is what the process of “curing” is all about.
During fermentation, friendly bacteria join forces with the sugars inside the cucumber, producing lactic acid, which, in turn, produces that familiar tang we all love in this style of pickle.
Fermentation-style pickling is one of the earthiest activities associated with preserving. Wine, beer, yogurt and sauerkraut all begin with fermentation. Real Mr. Wizard stuff, if you think about it. And your job in this age-old science-in-a-crock activity is to simply keep everything from taking a bad turn, with as little interference as possible.
Traditional pickle-barrel pickles are a real time-and-energy commitment. For example, when fermentation is at its peak and things are bubbling and foaming ferociously along, there’s a high level of interaction required on your part as you scrape away little pillows of foamy scum from the surface of the pickles and monitor the ambient temperature so things don’t get out of hand.
But the following recipe isn’t so intense. Yet it does welcome you to the amazing world of fermentation.
It’s also just plain fun to make and a delight to eat. Linda Zeidrich, pickle expert and author of “The Joy of Pickling,” calls it a fermented pickle for the impatient. It comes with all the wonder associated with fermentation, without the fuss or muss.
The entire fermentation process takes place outside, where the pickling is hastened along by the warmth of the sun. This accelerated activity produces a more mild-tasting pickle that lacks the pucker power of pickles fermented more slowly. Hence their most common name, “half-sours.” They’re also called “sun pickles,” for obvious reasons. I have a friend who remembers watching her mother pack the cucumbers into jars, add the salt, water, and just a hint of vinegar, then place the jars back out in the garden for several days. My friend says the wait was sheer agony, because she knew what a remarkable treat was developing right there before her eyes.
One last thing: I’ve been talking about fermented-style pickles in this column. It’s a fun activity to pursue, especially with children. But my favorite type of pickle is a fresh-pack style of pickle, of which my Jan’s Damn Good Garlic Dills refrigerator pickle is a prime example. I’ve shared this recipe many times over the years. But if you don’t have it, you can request a copy by e-mailing me at janrd@proaxis.com and I’ll transmit it to you,
Tips:
* Use a narrow-mouth jar, and wedge the cucumbers in tightly to keep them from floating.
* The jars are capped with nonreactive lids, but don’t screw them down tightly; the gas produced from fermentation needs a graceful way out of the jar.
* Only work with fresh produce. If you don’t start with a superior cucumber you won’t get a superior pickle. Cucumbers lose moisture rapidly once harvested, so ideally, the pickling cukes you use should be no more than 48 hours from the field, and kept under refrigeration for most of that time.
* To avoid a cloudy brine and discolored pickles, use canning salt, which is free of additives.
* If the days get very high (into the 80s) during fermentation, move the jars to a cooler place during the hottest hours. Otherwise, you may end up with soft pickles.
* You’ll slit each cucumber lengthwise so that the brine can reach far into the cucumber, which ensures even fermentation during the quick cure I’ve described this in greater detail in the recipe, but if you don’t’ want to slit the cukes, Ziedrich says you can simply poke a bamboo skewer in one end and out the other.
1 quart 3- to 5-inch pickling cucumbers
1 tablespoon pickling salt
2 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar
1 fresh head and 1 frond of dill
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
About 2 cups water
Gently wash the cucumbers and trim away about 1/8-inch from the blossom ends. This helps prevent softening because there is an enzyme lurking at the base of the blossom that promotes this when given half a chance.
Insert a sharp knife near one end and slit the cucumbers through lengthwise, leaving both ends intact. This slit encourages even fermentation throughout the cucumber. Put the salt, vinegar, and dill into a narrow-mouth quart jar. Pack the cucumbers into the jar so they won’t float, leaving 1-inch head space. Cover the cucumbers with water. Cap the jar with a nonreactive lid, and give the jar a shake to dissolve the salt.
After the salt has dissolved, loosen the lid so that gases can escape during the fermentation process. Place the jar outdoors in the sun or in a sunny window, in a dish if seeping brine might do some damage. If you set the jar outdoors, bring it in at night.
Within 3 days you should see tiny bubbles rising in the jar; this means that fermentation has begun. The pickles should be ready within 5 days, when the tiny bubbles have stopped rising. Chill them, and enjoy. They will keep in the refrigerator for many weeks.
Recipe slightly adapted (I add garlic) from “The Joy of Pickling,” by Linda Ziedrich
Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis, Ore., food writer, cookbook author and artist. Readers can contact her by e-mail at janrd@proaxis.com.
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