A simple guide to pickling and salting food

Salt has been used as a food preservative since ancient times when it was a treasured commodity. Pickling, still another age-old practice, serves two purposes:  it preserves and it adds delicious flavour.

When food is impregnated with salt, moisture is drawn out and the growth of spoilage-causing bacteria is inhibited.

• Modern salting is confined mainly to meat and fish and is sometimes combined with smoking and drying.
• In pickling, acid (usually vinegar) stops the growth of bacteria.
• Both salting and pickling will significantly alter the flavour as well as the texture of food.
• Salt dehydrates food, creating a brine which will resist bacterial growth. For best preservation the salt should thoroughly and evenly penetrate the food.
• In general, the more salt used, the better the food is preserved, but the more nutrients it loses, especially because heavily salted food must be soaked and then rinsed to make it palatable, a process that further depletes vitamins.

In the modern world, the use of refrigeration has removed the immediate need to preserve food by the ancient methods of dry salting and brining, although olives and some fish and meats are still treated in this way, and in Asia, vegetables such as radish and cabbage. Corned beef is a salt-preserved meat that is still popular in Western countries.

• In general, the heavy concentrations of salt required by these methods make them unacceptable from a health point of view.
• More popular today, from both a nutritional and flavour standpoint, is low-salt fermentation and pickling, despite the drawback of lower preservative properties.
• In both methods natural sugars are converted into lactic acid, a substance that adds a delicious astringent flavour and protects food from spoilage organisms.
• The main difference between low-salt fermentation and pickling is the use of vinegar, herbs and spices in the pickling process; the active food preservative is the acetic acid in the vinegar, while the spices, sugar and salt also help to preserve the food.
• In both methods the salinity is low enough for produce to be eaten without being rinsed in water.

Almost any vegetable or fruit can be preserved by one or more of the salt-curing methods.

• Once cured the produce will remain fit for consumption for periods of up to three weeks, provided it is kept at a temperature of about 3°C (37°F).
• If you want to keep some of the produce for longer periods, or if the 3°C (37°F) storage temperature is impossible to maintain, bottle the food by the boiling-water bath method as soon as possible after it has been thoroughly cured.
• Containers and utensils used for salting and pickling should be glass or plastic; avoid metal, since it may react with the brining solution.
• Do not cure with table salt; it contains iodine and other chemicals that may cause pickles to become cloudy and darken in colour. Instead use coarse cooking salt, sea salt or rock salt.

Now you're ready to salt and pickle your own food. Get creative and experiment with new foods and these techniques -- you never know what delicious creation you might come up with!

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