Favorite Pickled Products?

CraigC

CraigC

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I love pickled herring and pickled boiling onions right out of the jar. Quick pickled red onion for tacos along with pickled jalapenos. What are some of your favorites?
 
Interestingly, I think the US definition of pickle is probably tighter than the UK definition. In the UK all kinds of things which could be called chutney are called pickle. In other words its not a term that only means vegetables or fish etc in a brine or vinegar but concoctions in a thick sauce.

Famously, there is Branston Pickle as an example but there are numerous Indian pickles which look more like chutney.

American friends - please correct me if the US definition also includes these types of products.

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At any given moment, I have several homemade pickled things in my refrigerator. Today, it's:
  • Pickled onions - I usually make pickled red onions in white or apple vinegar with equal amounts of salt and sugar. This time, I used yellow onions, in rice vinegar, with turmeric added to give them a bright yellow look, and ground chili de arbol to give them some heat.
  • Kimchi - This time, it's a daikon radish, but I have made it with cabbage. I like this and pickled onions as toppings for my burgers
  • Pickled beets - I use a scant amount of sugar and a large amount of salt, which is backwards from what most do, plus cloves.
  • Pickled habaneros - I made these a while ago, and they still seem to be good. I've read that pickled peppers can last up to a year if continuously refrigerated (I believe, in addition to the salt and vinegar, the capsaicin in the peppers acts as a preservative).
morning glory said:
American friends - please correct me if the US definition also includes these types of products.
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For something to be pickled, I'd say it involves:
  1. vinegar
  2. salt
  3. a fruit, vegetable, or meat
  4. OPTIONAL: a variety of other seasonings (sugar, dill, bay leaves, etc), though these technically aren't essential to something being pickled
  5. OPTIONAL: the pickling liquid is heated to integrate the above (this isn't essential because cold pickling is still considered pickling)
  6. a soak of some kind to absorb/transform the above items
It seems that the UK definition looks to see if vinegar is involved, and if there's a process of heating and/or transforming the main ingredient(s) into something else. This covers chutney, but it's not what I'd call pickled. In making a chutney, the heating process is done to break down the fruit and transform it. Heating is only done in (American) pickling to integrate the salt and seasonings.
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
It seems that the UK definition looks to see if vinegar is involved, and if there's a process of heating and/or transforming the main ingredient(s) into something else. This covers chutney, but it's not what I'd call pickled. In making a chutney, the heating process is done to break down the fruit and transform it. Heating is only done in (American) pickling to integrate the salt and seasonings.
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Yes - I think the term pickle is used more flexibly in the UK. Perhaps this relates to the historical Indian links - I am not sure. But here is a recipe from an Indian website for tomato pickle - no vinegar involved. It looks rather delicious BTW! It looks typically like many Indian pickles we have in the UK. What would you call a recipe like this in the US?

https://www.archanaskitchen.com/tomato-pickle-thakkali-thokku
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
For something to be pickled, I'd say it involves:
  1. vinegar
  2. salt
  3. a fruit, vegetable, or meat
Click to expand...

You forgot eggs! If we are talking things preserved in vinegar then one of my absolute favourite pickled things is pickled eggs. In fact, I'm now going to make some tomorrow...
 
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I've struggled to come up with anything other than cornichons (pickled baby cucumbers, I think) from this part of the world. I'm not wild about them but I do agree with @CraigC : pickled herrings (or 'rollmops') are great. And on the Indian theme, then I'd also add Lime Pickle (I haven't eaten it for years, but I used to love it)
 
morning glory said:
You forgot eggs! If we are talking things preserved in vinegar then one of my absolute favourite pickled things is pickled eggs. In fact, I'm now going to make some tomorrow...
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Recipe as well please? There's no shortage of eggs in the village at the moment, but as people are going on holiday, then I spot an opportunity...
 
Things in vinegar, I usually have chillis (Turkish ones to eat with falafel and jalapinos) and gerkins. Pickle walnut sometimes (I love them so should have them more often). Sometimes pickled onions.
I also often have homemade quick pickled onions and cucumber (sometimes together).
I want to make the pickled turnips that are often served with falafel.
 
morning glory said:
You forgot eggs! If we are talking things preserved in vinegar then one of my absolute favourite pickled things is pickled eggs. In fact, I'm now going to make some tomorrow...
Click to expand...

In Suffolk pubs serve a pickled egg dropped into a bag of ready salted crisps as a snack with your beer.
 
Herbie said:
I want to make the pickled turnips that are often served with falafel.
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The two most popular pickled products in Slovenia (where I lived for a few years) are kisla zelja (basically sauerkraut) and kisla repa - which is a pickled turnip concoction. I've never come across them elsewhere. @Herbie - served where with falafel, please?
 
I pickle gerkins although you call them pickles. I also do pickled curry onions. I make about 50 kgs onions every year. They are very sought after. These are small ones about 40mm dia. The sauce is curry powder with other spices and white vinegar and a flour mix, these pickle in the thick sauce for 3 months then nice with cheeses like masdaam.

Russ
 
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