The Joy of Pickling

I happened across this wonderful book 'The Joy of Pickling' by Linda Ziedrich while standing in line at the fabric counter at Jo Ann's the other day.  What luck! and such good timing.  I knew I had to snatch it up then and there... putting my second 50% off coupon to good use. Great unusual recipes are found within, but best of all is that the 'whys' and 'wherefores' of various methods of pickling are explained in better detail than I had found to date.   I also like that there are a variety of ethnic recipes and the history of each is touched on.  A virtual table is spread for the reader and I can imagine myself in various settings, dining on delicious 'sweets and sours' with a Pennsylvania Dutch family or sauerkrauts or sauerrubens somewhere in Eastern Europe or kimchees at a table in Korea.  I did not know that Koreans were more prolific picklers than any other Asian group!  What I did find in these pages are several recipes for different kimchees that I am anxious to try.  I would love to duplicate the delicous kimchee that we had been served at the resort on Je Ju Do.

There are a few questions that weren't answered for me.  In the brining method of pickling, which I am most interested in for the probiotics, Ziedrich, talks about a method for low-heat pasteurization that can be used to extend the shelf life of the brined pickles.  This was new to me and as she doesn't really delve deeply into the probiotic benefits (this obviously was not her purpose in writing this book), I have to wonder if the probiotic life is 'pasteurized' out of the pickles and brine as well as non-beneficial bacterial or fungal activity that would have caused spoilage-- even at a lower heat.  My guess is that it would.  Neither does Ziedrich get into the kind of probiotic bacteria (as to binomial nomenclature).  At this point I am just curious, but it would be great to know eventually.  According to 'The Wonder of Probiotics' (Taylor and Mitchell) different strains are known to be preventative and/or curative of certain specific ailments.  So while I believe that keeping a balance of any probiotic life in our digestive tracks is important, it would be good (or at least interesting) to have more detailed knowledge of the strains that appear in brined veggies.  This book is a very helpful and thrilling find indeed, but I will keep looking until I am satisfied that I know what I want to know.

'Fermented Vegetables', The Herb Companion