And living in San Francisco has prompted me to take part in the steady emergence of urban homesteading, a do-it-yourself attitude in all but rural areas, and pickle my own veggies. My past attempts have included pickling cauliflower and baby carrots inspired by Tartine Bakery’s sweet and tart version.
Upon tasting one of my creations, I almost doubled over in a nauseous state as if I had swallowed acid. This may have been a result of not recording the expiration date on unsterilized jars of homemade pickles, using cheap vinegar, or combining recipes I found online instead of really knowing what I was doing.
For my safety, and the safety of others, I decide my next pickling attempt will be supervised by a pro. So on a recent evening, I head over to Local: Mission Eatery to take a pickling class in the spirit of Good Food Month.
Nothing says welcome like two big metal tubs filled with ice cold beer. I take one and sit down, waiting for others to filter in. Jake Des Voignes, executive chef and cofounder of Local: Mission Eatery, introduces himself and points out the ingredients we will be working with tonight. Over by the kitchen is a bar covered with an array of vegetables fresh from the farmers’ market, herbs, jars of chilies, black peppercorns, and mustard seeds. About 10 other students and I ogle over the spectacle as we sip our beers and munch on apples and pickled veggies (turnips, beets, and carrots) to give us a taste of where our night's journey will take us. Jake hands out a typed sheet with the basic directions and recipes for vinegar pickles, fermented pickles, and two-week sauerkraut.
The difference between vinegar pickles and fermented pickles is the vinegar versus brine solution. Vinegar pickles use only two tablespoons of salt, where fermenting calls for 1 ½ ounces. The acid in vinegar takes the place of natural fermentation. Fermented pickles use a brine of salt and water with no sugar or vinegar. The good bacteria that develop are responsible for not only the flavor but also for producing acids important to preservation. Both processes need enough acid to prevent undesirable bacteria from growing.
While we’re on the subject, another quick tip to prevent such horrors as botulism is to sterilize the jars before sealing up your goodies. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees, place the jars on a cookie sheet and leave them in the oven for 15 minutes.
Jake has made the brine and vinegar solutions ahead of time so we can get straight to work. We head over to the giant communal table laid out with cutting boards, knives, peelers, and plastic containers for compost. Jake lets us know our options include red, white, or champagne vinegar. He suggests investing in a more flavorful vinegar, higher in quality than your standard gallon of Heinz white. If the vinegar is harsh, your pickles will be harsh. (Ah, yes, sounds familiar.) Vinegar can be used hot or cold, depending on the fruit or vegetable to be pickled. It’s best to use cold vinegar for apples because they are more delicate than, say, carrots. Turnips, on the other hand, need heat to break down an otherwise unpleasant woody texture. The color option is more of an aesthetic thing. Use white wine or champagne vinegar for green grapes and red wine vinegar for purple grapes.
We listen. Nod. Wait for the go-ahead and stampede toward the mason jars. Two each. I put them on my station predetermined by the placement of my beer. And quick! Get to the vegetables. I survey the lot and choose a giant watermelon radish, just because I never knew such a thing existed. I ask Jake what spices would go best with my choice. He recommends mustard seed, thyme, and one chili because these particular radishes are spicy, and one bay leaf. Be sure to crack the bay leaf, he advises, to release its essence.
I go back to my cutting board with all the ingredients and start peeling the radish. Then, I cut it in half. Beautiful. Pale green on the outside and a deep pink on the inside. I cut the radish into slices as if it were a watermelon.
When it's all pickled up, I can trick someone into thinking I fit an itty-bitty watermelon into this jam jar. Excellent. The aromatics go in with the hot brine of white wine vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and black peppercorns.
I reserve the second jar for my favorite: beets. These particular beets are white with pink striations. Thoroughly exciting not only to me but also to a few others at the table, whose world instantly expands beyond the standard beet options of red or yellow. I put in some black peppercorn, thyme, a chili to punch it up, and then fill the jar with a hot red-wine vinegar. Come to think of it, I should have used white vinegar for my white beets! But I'm sure not all is lost.
After about two and a half hours of pickling fun, we screw on the tops, label our jars, and most everyone heads out the door into the unusually warm night. I stay behind and ask Jake for a few extra recipe ideas. He suggests pickling whole green tomatoes, which will have a bitter note and a crunch. All I can think about is how beautiful they will look all jarred up for the holidays. And, he says, this is the perfect time of year to pickle sardines. The season’s cold waters make for a fat sardine. So stock up!
Who knew you could pickle an apple. And who knew pickled turnips would taste like horseradish! When using hermetically sealed mason jars with two-part metal screw-tight lids, homemade pickled veggies and fruits can last up to a year. I feel confident in the kitchen now that I have learned the proper pickling ways of the veg, and have a professional recipe to experiment with the fermenting ways of the kraut. No unsuspecting person will mistakenly OD on the wrong microbes in my kitchen!
The basic pickling recipes and directions are listed below, followed by a few extra recipes I asked for after class. Check out Local: Mission Eatery for other fun gastronomic labs that take place on Sunday evenings from 5–7 p.m. (unless otherwise noted). Or check out one of its cookbooks, library style!
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tbsp salt
• spices
1. Boil all ingredients together and pour over vegetable of choice
2. Seal in a clean jar and refrigerate
• 1 1/2 oz salt
• 4 3/4 cups water
• 8 oz vegetables
• aromatics (garlic, chives, herbs)
1. Bring all ingredients except vegetables to a boil to make a brine
2. Let sit until room temperature
3. Place vegetables in a jar, cover with plastic, and top with more brine
4. Let sit in cool place for 7 days (if you want a stronger flavor, let it go 10 days)
5. Remove vegetables from jar and place in a clean jar for storage
6. Bring brine to a boil to kill any bad bacteria and let come to room temp
7. Pour over vegetables and refrigerate
8. Eat pickles
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