Kosher Dills… Pickles and the Jewish people
Jewish Life Specialist
Overview
Before refrigeration, it was more challenging to store food for extended periods of time. While grains, legumes, and a limited number of fruits and root vegetables were able to be kept, our ancestors were in search of a way to keep their food longer.
Some say that the earliest mentions of pickling were in Mesopotamia 2400BCE.
“Cleopatra endorsed the pickle as part of her beauty treatment. Julius Caesar recommended his armies were fed pickles to improve their health; and Christopher Columbus transported pickled cucumbers in galleons to the New World to prevent the crew from contracting scurvy. The pickle not only boosted the poor and monotonous diets of our Ashkenazi ancestors, but also gave the women of the villages who prepared them a small additional income.” A tale of preservation – The Jewish Chronicle
Ancient References
Cucumbers are mentioned in Tanakh. Could this be an early reference to pickling, as the foods would need to have been pickled to stay good for some period of time?
זָכַ֙רְנוּ֙ אֶת־הַדָּגָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־נֹאכַ֥ל בְּמִצְרַ֖יִם חִנָּ֑ם אֵ֣ת הַקִּשֻּׁאִ֗ים וְאֵת֙ הָֽאֲבַטִּחִ֔ים וְאֶת־הֶחָצִ֥יר וְאֶת־הַבְּצָלִ֖ים וְאֶת־הַשּׁוּמִֽים׃
We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. (Numbers 11:5)
Fair Zion is left
Like a booth in a vineyard,
Like a hut in a cucumber field,
Like a city beleaguered. (Isaiah 1:8)
The Talmud also has references to pickling and the effects it has on foods and their status:
This is not a convincing claim, because from the fact that Shmuel said: A food item marinated in vinegar, brine, or the like is considered like a cooked food item, it may be understood by inference that when one said that salted food is like boiling hot food they were saying that it is like boiling hot food that is roasted (Chullin 97b:6)
In this case, The Rabbis were evaluating what part of the animal you could eat and whether pickled foods were to be treated as cooked foods. In the following text, they were discussing whether salting meat on Shabbat should be included in the 39 prohibitions of Shabbat because it was akin to tanning?
Rabba bar Rav Huna said: One who salts meat on Shabbat to preserve it is liable due to the labor of tanning. Rava said: There is no tanning regarding food. No action taken with food falls into this category. Rav Ashi said: And even Rabba bar Rav Huna said it falls into the category of tanning only when one needs to pack the meat for a trip and salts it thoroughly. However, to eat in the house, a person does not render their food inedible, tantamount to a piece of wood. In that case, one certainly would not salt the meat to a degree that would approximate tanning. (Shabbat 75b)
Does reading about cucumbers and pickling in Tanakh and Talmud influence your thoughts on pickles? Why do you think there were such lengthy discussions about pickling and its effects on food?
- The word pickle first appeared in 1400. It was derived from Pokel, a northern German word for salt and brine.
- The turnip was the most pickled vegetable in the Middle East.
- By the mid-16th century, nomadic Tatars and Turks brought the idea of pickling without vinegar (lacto-fermentation) which was cheaper than using wine, a more expensive and rarer commodity to eastern Europe. Ultimately, it became a staple of Jewish cuisine. Foods like beets, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, green beans, olives, peppers, green tomatoes and turnips were all pickled using salt. (Gleaned from the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, Gil Marks)
Is there a difference between pickling and fermenting?
“A note on the difference between ‘pickling’ and ‘fermentation’: Fermented pickles are made by submerging vegetables in that saltwater brine, causing naturally occurring good bacteria in the air to gradually turn the vegetables’ sugars into lactic acid. That process of creating acid – lacto-fermentation — is why foods fermented with just salt still taste sour; traditional kosher dill pickles, for example, get their distinctive flavor this way. Vinegar pickles, on the other hand, use, well, vinegar, and sometimes sugar and spices, and are not fermented. When stored in the fridge, they are called quick pickles or refrigerator pickles. What you’ll likely find at the grocery store, though, are vinegar pickles that have been canned in boiling water in order to be shelf stable. Essentially, fermented pickles just use salt, spurring lacto-fermentation, while non-fermented pickles are made with vinegar. So, not all pickles are fermented. And not all fermented foods are pickled – think yogurt, wine, cheese, sourdough bread and more.” It’s the Perfect Time to Get Into Pickling | The Nosher
Moving from the Pickling process to Jewish Pickles:
Half sour
“New York’s Jewish pickle hawkers also popularized the Half-Sour Pickle, which similarly relied on lacto-fermentation, but did not include dill. These pickles are only brined for a week or two, so they’re not fully fermented. This explains their bright green color, ensures they stay crisp, and results in a more subtle pickle flavor.” The Official Guide to Jewish Pickles | The Nosher
*Sweet pickles are a relatively new innovation and incorporate a decent amount of sugar.
Pickles as a Business
- The merchants who immigrated to the Lower East Side of New York brought their skills and the tastes of the eastern European pickles with them.
- Hawking pickles on the Lower East Side was big business. By the 1920’s it is said that there were 80 different pickle vendors.
- The last Jewish pickler in the LES today operates The Pickleguys.
- Often credited with being the main producer of pickles and relish, Henry J Heinz began offering his 57 versions of pickles to Sharpsburg, PA in 1869. The business grew significantly and many years later was notable for offering a national brand of food under Kosher certification.
- The pickle business and the Jewish deli business are often synonymous. A pickle is said to be a palate cleanser and accompanies deli meat perfectly.
What kind of pickle do you prefer? Have you ever pickled food before? How important are pickles to Jewish history and culture?