Pickling: The Culinary Secret of Ancient Mesopotamia Still Feeds The World!

An Ancient Craft Offers A Modern Solution For Reducing Climate Impact—Pickling. (Sponsored By Sabrina's Garden Boston MA.)

Cucumber flowers like the ones that adorn this Sumerian tunic are a beautiful, tasty garnish for a wide variety of dishes & cocktails. Their delicate cucumber flavor makes them a great choice for salads or cold appetizers. Try pairing them with flavors like dill, gin, garlic, salmon, mint and/or tomatoes.

From the earliest written evidence it is clear that Mesopotamian culture was a Sumero-Akkadian (Afro-Asiatic) one, and that the inhabitants were bilingual, speaking both languages side by side. The Akkadians very early on even adopted the cuneiform script, invented by Sumerian speakers, to write their own language. Akkadian was a Semitic language. Sumerian was a language isolate, most likely originating in Africa as its earliest royal lineage was African. Sumerians were an African people who migrated from the Green Sahara into Western Asia and were responsible for the spread of farming in Western Asia.

The civilization of Sumer was the product of Black migrations from Africa's Nile Valley. Sumer is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), The Akkadians lived in northern Mesopotamia while the Sumerians lived in the south. They had a similar government and culture as the Sumerians, but spoke a different language. The government was made up of individual city-states. These peoples unified became known as Mesopotamians and were mainly bilingual.

Pickling with originated in ancient Mesopotamia around 2400 BC and there is archaeological evidence of cucumbers being pickled with vinegar in the Tigris Valley in 2030 BC. Pickling vegetables started more than 4,000 years ago, when ancient Mesopotamians began soaking cucumbers in acidic brine, as a way to preserve them. The art and science of pickling continued to develop in the, the lands around the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, encompassing the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa before spreading through Western and Central North Africa, to Sicily and eventually to Spain.

Pickling—preserving foods in vinegar, brine or a similar solution—is one of the oldest methods of food preservation. Though the exact origins of the process are unknown, it most likely occurred because these were the people who built the first sailboats specifically for ocean travel! Boats with sails have been found in Kemetan tombs dating back to 3200 B.C., and there is also evidence that the Sumerians also used them (sailboats) to navigate the Tigris and Euphrates around 3000 B.C. archaeologists believe ancient Mesopotamians pickled food as far back as 2400 B.C., perhaps as a result of storing food in the first Sumerian sailboats, according to the New York Food Museum. Since then, pickled vegetables and fruits for that matter have been a staple in cultures around the world, renowned for their heartiness, health benefits (protection from scurvy) and taste.

How To Pickle Like the Ancients!

"Pickled vegetables can be made by beginners in small batches from only four cups or so of cut vegetables, canned in half-pint canning jars. In addition to being easy to manage, small batches of pickled vegetables are a practical solution for cosmetically flawed vegetables that won’t store well, such as carrots with insect damage near their tops, or turnips that cracked after a heavy rain. When cleaned, trimmed and cut into uniform pieces, the imperfections never show in the finished pickles." Americans alone eat more than 2 million pounds of pickles a year so learning this skill and growing your own veggies can save you lots of money.

The recipes for brine vary most are comprised of vinegar, sugar and sometimes water, along with subtle spicy flavors that complement the vegetables. The basic pickle brine calls for just four ingredients: white vinegar, sugar, salt, and water. can use either clear distilled vinegar or amber-colored cider vinegar, depending on the results you want. If you are making a brine without vinegar (the oldest method) Being conscious of food safety to avoid botulism and using quality salt is crucial these can be stored safely in a refrigerator for up to 2 months but if the container spurts liquid or foam when you open it or the food looks moldy discolored or smells bad don't risk your health throw it away immediately.

Don't use table salt or industrial salt. Measure salt exactly: 2 level tablespoons of salt per liter of water for half-salt pickles or 3 tablespoons of water for traditional salt pickles. The pickles are ready after only 24 hours, when they are half fermented. Note that water can never exceed the same measure of vinegar and give safe results. For example, pickled snap beans with dill, called dilly beans, are done up in a brine that is half water and half vinegar, but that is the limit for diluting vinegar for any pickled vegetable.

Brine pickling must be "topped off regularly with salt to prevent danger of botulism over time the brine unless salt is added will not be effective brine any more, it's a symbiotic community of bacteria and yeasts (SCOBY). There's an entire microbial ecosystem in the container which preserves it, and prevents spoilage by competition, this ecosystem needs to be fed and maintained like a sourdough culture. Most brines by contrast are just water, acid, and salts, those don't have live cultures so they are more easily contaminated.

"If using vinegar the type of vinegar matters distilled vinegar that has mild acidity is mostly used for pickled carrots, asparagus, and snap beans in the interest of clear colors, but opt for cider vinegar to help pickled zucchini relish look appetizingly rustic. Note: Apple cider vinegar made from fermented apple juice is a good choice for many pickles. It has a mellow, fruity flavor that blends well with spices. But it will darken most vegetables and fruits."

Choosing spices for brine can be fun the most common spices can consist of a mélange of peppercorns, allspice berries, cinnamon sticks, cloves, bay leaves, dill and mustard seeds. You also can use lemon or orange rind tamarind, or hot peppers to flavor your brine. Something magical happens when you combine Caribbean combos flavors like thyme, cinnamon, allspice, onions, and hot peppers. Some cooks like to place my their chosen spices in a cheesecloth pouch tied up with string, and let them soak in the simmering aromatic brine while while they prepare the jars. Black Coral Inc Blogger Mic Theory uses a hand mixed combination of dry yellow mustard , fresh cracked black pepper, dill seed, cinnamon, white pepper, allspice, coriander, crushed red pepper, bay leaves, cloves, ginger and dried lemon peel.

Pickling secret from Mic Theory, the best pickling cucumbers should have thin skins. (This is rare in most grocery store cucumbers) which is why growing your own pickles is smart and also one of the easiest crops to grow even from grocery store cucumber seeds! Boston Pickling variety has been a favorite of gardeners for more than a century because it produces cucumbers continuously throughout the growing season even though they are only three inches long they are crunchy and flavorful the more personal the spices the better. Bush variety is great for rooftop gardens and grow tons of cucumbers in even the tiniest spaces or containers. Calypso the fat high-yielding pickling cucumber that is prized for its disease resistance, has firm interiors making them great for pickling. Grow these edible flower vining plants on a trellis for easier access.

Cucumber flowers are a beautiful, tasty garnish for a wide variety of dishes & cocktails. Their delicate cucumber flavor makes them a great choice for salads or cold appetizers. Try pairing them with flavors like dill, gin, garlic, salmon, mint and/or tomatoes. Although there are three general methods for vinegar-brine pickling: quick-pickling, salt-brine pickling and the vinegar-brine soak and rinse method, and within those methods, there exist many variations, recipes and approaches to make things like relishes and chutneys we will focus on the simplest.

Make Pickled Vegetables in 4 Easy Steps

In addition to being easy to manage, small batches of pickled vegetables are a practical solution for cosmetically flawed vegetables that won’t store well, such as carrots with insect damage near their tops, or turnips that cracked after a heavy rain. When cleaned, trimmed and cut into uniform pieces, the imperfections never show in the finished pickles.

1. Start with a Salt Soak

The first step in making pickled vegetables is to clean and cut the vegetables then soak in salt or a strong saltwater solution for at least 3 hours, or sometimes overnight. As the vegetables soak in salt, some moisture is drawn from the tissues, which helps to preserve crisp texture through the pickling process. Use your favorite sea salt, and then rinse the vegetables in cold water several times to remove excess salt when the soaking time is up. Put the rinsed vegetables in a colander while you make the pickling brine.

2. Make a Vinegar Brine

The liquid in canned pickles is comprised of vinegar, sugar and sometimes water, along with subtle spicy flavors that give pickles their zip. You can use either clear distilled vinegar or amber-colored cider vinegar, depending on the results you want. I veer toward distilled vinegar for pickled carrots, asparagus, and snap beans in the interest of clear colors, but opt for cider vinegar to help pickled zucchini relish look appetizingly rustic.

Recipes vary in whether or not water is added to the vinegar brine, with thick sweet relishes and chutneys using no water at all. Note that water can never exceed the same measure of vinegar and give safe results. For example, pickled snap beans with dill, called dilly beans, are done up in a brine that is half water and half vinegar, but that is the limit for diluting vinegar for any pickled vegetable. Choosing spices for the brine is fun, and I often start with a commercial mixture of pickling spices from the health food store, and add and subtract from its mélange of peppercorns, allspice berries, cinnamon sticks, cloves, bay leaves, dill and mustard seeds. You also can use lemon or orange rind or hot peppers to flavor your brine.

3. Prepare and Fill Pickling Jars

After washing them squeaky clean, I place my canning jars in a baking pan and keep them in a warm oven. Meanwhile, I might peel a garlic clove for each one, or trim grape or basil leaves to snug into the jar bottoms. The natural tannins in grape leaves are said to enhance crispness in pickled vegetables, or you can use a well-placed basil leaf as a nest for a sprig of dill or strip of pepper. A chopstick is the perfect tool for arranging these or other adornments in warm jars.

Back to the brine, from which the spice bag can now be removed. Vegetables cut into small pieces can be added to the brine and brought back to a simmer, this softens them slightly and helps prevent air bubbles in the jars. Long, vegetables such as carrot sticks, banana or chile peppers or asparagus spears can be tightly packed into the warm jars by hand, and then covered with hot brine before the jars are filled and processed. After filling, use a damp paper towel followed by a wipe with a dry paper towel to double-check the cleanliness of the jar rims.

4. Process Your Pickles

All pickled foods must be processed to insure a good seal, which can be done in a water bath or steam canner. When working with little half-pint jars, you can use a deep pot as a water bath canner. Any pot deep enough to cover the tops of the jars with simmering water will do. Process the jars for 10 minutes at barely boiling temperatures this heats them enough to sterilize the pickled veggies and trigger the seals to pop into place as the jars cool. Give pickles at least two weeks in cool storage to develop their full flavors, As long as your pickles are protected from heat and light in a cool, dark space, your vegetables will be ready to eat when you need them.

Dill, one of the most important herbs used in pickling cucumbers and other vegetables. The culinary use of dill can be traced back to the culinary arts of Kemetenui (Egyptians), known for their advanced agricultural practices, they recognized dill's potential as a flavor enhancer and believed it possessed healing properties. They incorporated it into their bread, and it became a common seasoning for fish and pickles. Dill's popularity quickly spread throughout the Mediterranean even to being used in Sumatra by the indigenous tribes for pickling around 900 A.D.