Everyone sort of assumes it is the chicken. Everyone thinks that the process of pickling was invented as a way of preserving food in a time long before refrigeration, and that people who tried it decided that it tasted great, too.
But what if it were the egg? What if someone in that long-ago time dropped a cucumber in a vat of vinegar and salt because he thought it would taste good, and later discovered to his surprise that the liquid also helped to preserve the vegetables?
Not that it matters. Pickles are wonderful, and they last a long time. They're the best of both worlds.
And they don't have to be cucumbers. A wide variety of vegetables and even fruit can be pickled, with excellent results. Even meat can be pickled, if you have a mind to do it.
I don't. I'll do anything for food, but I won't do that.
Instead, I made seven kinds of non-cucumber pickles, covering the spectrum of ingredients and styles _ sour and sweet, vegetables and fruit and eggs. I even made a Japanese version of sauerkraut which, when you get down to it, is just pickled cabbage.
I had one slight drawback in my efforts to be completely diverse in pickles: Three of the varieties I made were flavored with cinnamon and cloves. But what are you going to do? At least they taste good.
Let's begin with green beans, which make straightforward, unfussy pickles. In that sense, you can think of them as a skinny version of pickled cucumbers.
First, you blanch the green beans; you want them partially cooked, but still crisp. After you have chilled them and put them in sterilized jars, you make a syrup of vinegar, salt and water all simmered together with an assortment of herbs and flavorings. Then you can them by putting the jars and their vacuum-seal lids into a boiling-water bath.
That's a standard pickle, and a darned good one. Traditional spiced beets take that same formula and adds a small wrinkle, in the form of the aromatics that they use.
Ordinary pickled beets are made with nothing more than vinegar, salt and water (and maybe some red wine if you want to get fancy). But the spiced beets I made also benefit from cinnamon, cloves, allspice and the secret ingredient, star anise.
I love pickled beets. I always have. But these spiced beets may be my new go-to for canning.
Next, I turned to sweet fruit pickles, and here is what I learned about them: I really, really like sweet fruit pickles.
Pickled cherries _ call them cerises au vinaigre, if you want _ make a delightful snack. Try them with a cheese plate. They are nicely sweet, with just a little hint of the vinegar that makes them pickles. In fact, the pickling liquid has almost twice as much sugar in it as vinegar.
The other ingredients? Our now familiar cinnamon stick and cloves.
Pickled pears are less like an hors d'oeuvre and more of a dessert. They are sweeter than the cherries, with just a whisper of vinegar for a contrapuntal edge. And the other flavors? Um, a cinnamon stick and cloves, but also allspice.
The other three pickles I made are different from the first group in that they are not canned _ that is, they are not vacuum-sealed in jars. That means they have to be refrigerated and will not last nearly forever.
Picked eggs are kind of a transition from canned pickles to uncanned pickles. Pubs around the world keep a big jar of pickled eggs on the bar and away from a refrigerator.
Don't do that.
Pickled eggs use a simmered syrup, so the pickling liquid is concentrated. Even so, the eggs are subject to causing botulism if they are stored at room temperature. In the fridge, they will begin to lose their flavor after about three or four months.
But only if they last that long. Salt and vinegar are perfect complements to hard-boiled eggs, so pickling them produces egg perfection. I like to add a cooked beet to the pickling liquid, too, which not only turns the eggs a beautiful red but also tempers the sharp (but not unwelcome) flavor of vinegar.
Quick Red Onion Pickles are even farther from traditional pickles because the pickling liquid is not concentrated. This fact makes them ready to use almost immediately, though they will taste better after two days. Even in a refrigerator, they can only be kept for up to one month.
But only, again, if they last that long. These pickles take red onions and make them more mild while still keeping that nice crispy bite. Add them to your salad or put them on a hamburger or a sandwich. For an extra-good treat, put them on a fried or poached egg.
For a forkful of heaven, put them on top of a poached egg on top of a salad. You're welcome.
The last pickle I made is as far as you can get from pickled green beans and beets and still be a pickle.
Hakusai no Tsukemono _ the Japanese version of sauerkraut mentioned earlier _ is nothing but Napa cabbage and salt. The salt draws water out of the cabbage, and that water serves as its pickling liquid.
Add dried peppers or a pepper spice mix if you want, or even pieces of carrots or _ it being Japanese _ dried kelp.
All it takes is a few days and a few pounds' weight. The result is a delightful, salty snack.
That's all you ever need from a pickle.
