by Mitch Samples

Good evening from beautiful Laurel, Maryland, where I am sitting in EJ’s Provision Company munching on some very excellent local oysters. Today we are going to talk about pickles. When thinking of pickles, most of us immediately recall the ubiquitous dill pickle of the US, but did you think about the fact that you can pickle just about anything, not just cucumbers? Heck, you can pickle oysters, meat, and eggs, though we won’t be going there Saturday morning at the Cary Downtown Farmers’ Market. We will, however, cover some very serious pickle ground and have some nice conversations about the process, the purpose, and the possibilities.

First of all, I would like to state that fresh, seasonal, veggies are an incredible treat that should not be taken lightly. Sometimes though, we might want to change the character of those veggies or keep them around a little longer than we normally could. Which brings us to pickling. Along with controlled fermentation, pickling is one of the oldest forms of food preservation known to man. It can easily be traced back to ancient Egypt, and surely must predate that era. In its most basic form, pickling is simply the submersion of a food item in salt or salted acidic brine — something easily accomplished by prehistoric humans. Doing this changes the pH of the environment, which either completely prohibits or limits the growth of bacteria. This alters the flavor and the consistency of the original food item, as well as dramatically increasing its room temperature shelf life. All we need to do is to create the appropriate environment for where we wish our final product to be, then balance the sweet-sour with the salt, along with any additional seasonings.

Obviously, we can’t perform any long-term preservation in one day at the market, but I will be there Saturday, and we can experiment with some low-key, short-term, Farmer Pickles. I will bring a sampling of vinegars, some salt, some sugar, and a smattering of spices. From that point on, it’s anyone’s guess. Doesn’t matter what, we’re going for it. Who knows what we’ll find to pickle? It’s a pickle adventure at the market this week. Why ask what you can pickle, when the real question should be what can’t you pickle?

Speaking of pickling, you may not be aware of it, but I pickled the last of the eggs from egg day and they will make a triumphant return to the market. Additionally, we will start a sauerkraut which we will bring back to taste in a few weeks. Recipes will be available at the market, but since I don’t yet know what we are actually going to pickle I won’t be printing them here. I hope to see you at my table on Saturday where we can chat, and you can snap a photo of the recipes. Archived copies will be loaded to https://www.caryfarmersmarket.com/ which will include real time data of the products used.

If you have any questions concerning recipes or any other questions, please talk to me at the market or contact me at mtsamples@gmail.com. As always, I am at your service.

Learn how to make sauerkraut!