Real Food Fermentation: Preserving Whole Fresh Food with Live Cultures in Your Home Kitchen / Lewin, Alex

Pickled cucumbers, or simply pickles, are a quintessential fermented food. The rst record of pickles comes from ancient Mesopotamia. Such diverse historical gures as Aristotle, Julius Caesar, Shakespeare, Amerigo Vespucci, and Thomas Jefferson are reported to have been fond of pickles. Indeed, Amerigo Vespucci, after whom America was named, was a pickle vendor before he became a world explorer. Pickles play a signi cant role in the food culture of many countries, from North America through Europe and into the Middle East.

1. ) If your cucumbers are at all soft, if you bought them at the store, and/or if you suspect that they might have been picked a while ago, you can perk them up by soaking them in ice water. 2. ) Trim the blossom ends off your cucumbers. These ends contain enzymes that can contribute to hollow pickle syndrome. 3. ) Combine the chlorine-free water and salt in the pitcher, and add any starter or vinegar, if using. 4. ) Place the seasonings and tannin providers at the bottom of the jar or crock, followed by the cucumbers. 5. ) Pour the brine into the crock. 6. ) Weight everything down in such a way that it stays submerged. 7. ) If needed, cover the top of the jar or crock with the cloth, and affix the cloth with the rubber band. 8. ) Store at cool room temperature. Every day after the second or third, pull out a pickle, cut off a piece with a clean knife, and taste it. When the pickles are pleasantly sour but still crunchy, they are done. Move them to a cool place (like the refrigerator) immediately. Yield: 3 4 pounds (1.5 2 kg), Prep time: 10 minutes, Total time: 3 days 2 weeks

Knife; Cutting board (wood is ideal); 1-gallon (4-L) pitcher; -gallon (2-L) mason jar, a Pickl-It, a Harsch crock, or a plain glazed (lead-free) ceramic crock; Something to hold the cucumbers under the brine, like a small clean plate or saucer that ts inside the jar or crock (if needed); Clean dishtowel or cloth to cover the top of the jar or crock along with a rubber band (if needed).