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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Readers' Choice Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Neighborhoods Employment Guide Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend September 13, 2006 Fermentation-style pickles are worth the effort By JAN ROBERTS-DOMINGUEZ For the Mail Tribune We're in the midst of pickle-making season, so now would be a good time to put up a batch or two. Or twenty! The two basic styles of pickles are fresh pack and cured. In both styles, acid is the key to the pickles' safety. It's either added to the cucumbers — typically in the form of vinegar — as in the case of fresh-pack pickles, or the cucumbers are induced to create their own by undergoing fermentation, which is what the process of "curing" is all about. During fermentation, friendly bacteria join forces with the sugars inside the cucumber, producing lactic acid, which, in turn, produces that familiar tang we love in this style of pickle. Advertisement Fermentation-style pickling is one of the earthiest activities associated with preserving. Wine, beer, yogurt and sauerkraut all begin with fermentation. Real Mr. Wizard stuff, if you think about it. And your job in this age-old, science-in-a-crock activity is to simply keep everything from taking a bad turn with as little interference as possible. Traditional pickle-barrel pickles are a real commitment of time and energy. For example, when fermentation is at its peak and things are bubbling and foaming ferociously along, there's a high level of interaction required on your part as you scrape away little pillows of foamy scum from the surface of the pickles and monitor the ambient temperature so things don't get out of hand. But the recipe above isn't so intense. Yet it does welcome you to the amazing world of fermentation. It's also just plain fun to make and a delight to eat. Pickle expert and author of "The Joy of Pickling," Linda Zeidrich, calls it a fermented pickle for the impatient. It comes with all the wonder associated with fermentation without the fuss or muss. The entire fermentation process takes place outside where the pickling is hastened along by the warmth of the sun. This accelerated activity produces a more mild-tasting pickle that lacks the pucker power of pickles fermented more slowly. Hence their most common name, "half-sours." They're also called "sun pickles," for obvious reasons. I have a friend who remembers watching her mother pack the cucumbers into jars, add the salt, water and just a hint of vinegar, then place the jars back out in the garden for several days. My friend says the wait was sheer agony because she knew what a remarkable treat was developing right there before her eyes. Although fermentation-style pickling is a fun activity to pursue, especially with children, my favorite type of pickle is a fresh-pack style. My Jan's Damn Good Garlic Dills refrigerator pickle is a prime example. I've shared this recipe many times over the years. But if you don't have it, you can request a copy by e-mailing me and I'll transmit it to you ([email protected]). Tips for fermentation-style pickles: Use a narrow-mouth jar, and wedge the cucumbers in tightly to keep them from floating. The jars are capped with non-reactive lids, but don't screw them down tightly; the gas produced from fermentation needs a graceful way out of the jar. Only work with fresh produce. If you don't start with a superior cucumber you won't get a superior pickle. Cucumbers lose moisture rapidly once harvested, so ideally, the pickling cukes you use should be no more than 48 hours from the field and kept under refrigeration for most of that time. To avoid a cloudy brine and discolored pickles, use canning salt, which is free of additives. If the days get very high into the 80s during fermentation, move the jar(s) to a cooler place during the hottest hours. Otherwise, you may end up with soft pickles. You'll slit each cucumber lengthwise so that the brine can reach far into the cucumber, which ensures even fermentation. I've described this in greater detail in the recipe, but if you don't' want to slit the cukes, Ziedrich says you can simply poke a bamboo skewer in one end and out the other. Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis food writer, cookbook author and artist Readers can contact her by e-mail at [email protected]. Recipe: Hungarian Summer Pickles by the Quart 1 quart 3- to 5-inch pickling cucumbers 1 tablespoon pickling salt 2 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar 1 fresh head and 1 frond of dill 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced Gently wash the cucumbers and trim away about 1„8-inch from the blossom ends. (This helps prevent softening because there is an enzyme lurking at the base of the blossom that promotes this when given half a chance!) Insert a sharp knife near one end and slit the cucumbers through lengthwise, leaving both ends intact. This slit encourages even fermentation throughout the cucumber. Put the salt, vinegar, dill and garlic into a narrow-mouth quart jar. Pack the cucumbers into the jar so they won't float, leaving 1 inch of head space. Cover the cucumbers with about 2 cups of water. Cap the jar with a nonreactive lid, and give the jar a shake to dissolve the salt. After the salt has dissolved, loosen the lid so that gases can escape during the fermentation process. Place the jar outdoors in the sun or in a sunny window, in a dish if seeping brine might do some damage. If you set the jar outdoors, bring it in at night. Within 3 days you should see tiny bubbles rising in the jar; this means that fermentation has begun. The pickles should be ready within 5 days, when the tiny bubbles have stopped rising. Chill them and enjoy. They will keep in the refrigerator for many weeks. Makes 1 quart. Recipe adapted from "The Joy of Pickling," by Linda Ziedrich. Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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