Cucumbers, capers, ginger, garlic, peppers, beans, asparagus, onions: Any vegetable out there – and quite a few fruits as well make excellent pickles. All along the Silk Road, harvest time and the weeks and months that follow are a time when, in many traditional cultures, foods are salted or pickles or otherwise preserved to provide a bountiful table in the cold winter months that follow. Vinegars or souring agents of all types combine with spices and herbs to create new forms of familiar foods that are like but different from their fresh counterparts.
Some pickles take weeks or months to develop, others can be made ready in days or even hours to as a light accompaniment to meal of kabobs or other roast meats and vegetables. I have a few favorite recipes for pickles. One is for Pomegranate Pickled Garlic enjoyed in the Black Sea countries of Georgia and Armenia, another for Mint Onion Pickles from Iran and a third from Bhutan for cucumbers pickled in rice vinegar with coriander and cumin seeds a healthy dose of cracked Sichuan Pepper.
Of the three, the Pomegranate Pickled Garlic is probably my favorite, possibly because outside of Eastern European and Western Asian ethnic enclaves and such garlic-growing regions as the California’s Central Valley, we don’t enjoy pickled garlic as much as we could here in the US; but partly it is the use of the pomegranate juice as an alternative to vinegar as the pickling ground. A recipe follows:
2 large heads of garlic (about 60 cloves), peeled
3 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup of unsweetened pomegranate juice
¼ cup of white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, cracked or lightly crushed
3 hot, dried, red chili peppers
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
Place the peeled garlic in a sterile glass jar and add the salt and sugar. Cover and shake to mix. Let stand on the counter for 1–2 hours, shaking every now and then to get the garlic to start to break down and give off its liquid.
Heat the pomegranate juice and the vinegar in a small saucepan to bring to a boil. Add the peppercorns, the sliced or torn chili peppers, and the dill to the garlic and then top off with the pomegranate juice and vinegar mixture. Cover and shake well. Store refrigerated for at least 1 month before eating.
I give the jars and shake at least once a week while they are developing to ensure that the pickling process is happening evenly. And what a joy at the end to have such flavorful, sweet, sour and slightly spicy pickles to enjoy with a hearty piece of lavash or shoti bread to soak up the juices and a bowl of soup or small plate of hinkali dumplings, these pickles help make a wonderful meal.
So, you have a favorite pickle or pickle recipe?
(Word by Laura Kelley; photo of Mixed Pickles by Olgalis at Dreamstime.com)