In a (Lacto-Fermented) Pickle

Pickles are also key ingredients in summery sides like potato salad or egg salad, so having a big jar in your fridge all season long is a must. Many cultures all over the world, from central Europe to Japan to India to the American South, have pickled vegetables as part of their culinary traditions, used as a way to preserve foods before canning or refrigeration. While pickling is a delicious, ingenious way to preserve the bounty of your summertime garden, it also adds extra nutrition to your vegetables.

To pickle means to preserve in brine, essentially a saltwater solution, and most people referring to “pickles” are talking about pickled cucumbers. With cucumber pickles, acidity is a key component of the brine, used for flavor and preventing spoilage. In the case of most store-bought and homemade pickles, we often think of vinegar pickles, where a vinegar-based brine preserves pickles with acetic acid. An even more traditional version (found in the recipe below) forgoes vinegar and instead employs fermentation for the acidity of the brine, which comes from lactic acid made in the fermenting process. This process is known as lacto-fermentation, so named because of the lactic acid-producing bacteria that facilitate the fermentation. Lacto-fermented pickles go through a similar process as other fermented vegetables like sauerkraut, with the main difference being that the pickles are submerged in a salty brine, whereas sauerkraut is shredded and mixed with salt to create its own brine, a method known as dry-salting.

Fermentation is what transforms cucumbers into pickles and safely preserves them, helping them stay “good” for months under refrigeration. This process also adds a nutritional boost. Similar to kimchi, miso, yogurt, kefir, and other ferments, pickles prepared through fermentation have the added benefit of probiotic bacteria and yeasts, enzymes and organic acids, as well as extra vitamins such as B12 and K2. Vinegar pickling does not use fermentation, so these added benefits are not present, though it’s certainly still tasty! The probiotics from pickled vegetables, as with any fermented food, can help support digestion, immune function, and more, so adding them to as many meals as possible can help give your body extra support.

The basic process of brining vegetables for lacto-fermentation is this: chop the veggies, create a saltwater brine, submerge the vegetables in this brine for 1-2 weeks to ferment, and you’ve got your very own homemade pickles. This brining method can be preferable over dry-salting if you are wanting to ferment vegetables in larger pieces, such as cucumbers, rather than shredding and pounding them, as used in turning cabbage into sauerkraut. Not only does the brining method work for cucumber pickles, but it can also be used for other larger-cut veggies like cauliflower, radishes, carrots, onions, whole garlic cloves and even hot peppers.

The amount of salt used in lacto-fermenting cucumbers is a bit higher than other vegetables due to cucumbers’ higher water content, but the overall method is the same. No matter the veggie, the brine requires a salt that has no additives or anti-caking agents, so look for pickling salt or any unrefined, non-iodized sea salt to use in your pickles. The other difference when pickling cucumbers versus other vegetables is the addition of tannin-rich leaves, such as grape, horseradish, or raspberry leaves. The tannins in these leaves help to keep your pickles crunchy, as they can get a bit soft if these are omitted. This is not totally essential in pickle making, but does yield a crunchier, higher-quality pickle. Look for unsprayed grape, horseradish, or raspberry leaves in your yard or garden (or the woods!), or feel free to use dried raspberry leaves or jarred grape leaves in your recipe, giving them a rinse before using to remove extra salt or acidity.

A starter culture can be added to the brine to speed up fermentation, decreasing the risk of mold and yeast growth and helping pickles to stay crunchier. I often use whey, the yellowish opaque liquid strained from plain yogurt, but a bit of sauerkraut or kimchi brine also works well to get your fermentation going. This addition is optional, however, and your pickles can turn out great simply using “wild” fermentation. Pickled cucumbers or other veggies will stay fresh in the fridge for about 6 months; after this, they start to get soft and lose their flavor—so be sure to eat them up before this happens, using your lacto-fermented pickles as you would any store-bought pickle, while totally impressing your friends and grandmas alike.