try using the 5 finger method to remember the 5 most common kinds of homunculi in the north pacific region· the thumb for sloth <hitchhiking>' the index for greed <pointing at the things they want>' middle for wrath <obvious>' ring for lust <i shan,t say>' and pinkie for pride <same letter>•
envy and gluttony are obviously more common in the midwest•
strong smells waft from a crock left unattended in my corner of the lab• master is pickling garlic again•
in other news' i,m not as hungry recently as usual•
it,s because i,m eating rocks•
a grocery list blew under the door of warren,s place• that guy eats too much oatmeal•
I'm trying lacto fermentation for the first time! I'm trying various combinations of turnip, swede and carrot, with peppercorns, parsley, majoram, chilli flakes. Can't wait to see what happens...
[Image ID: Five recycled jars filled with different pickling vegetables. There's sliced swede in three jars, one jar with cubed turnip and one jar with batons of carrots. Some peppercorns and herbs can be seen in the bottom of the jars.]
It’s been a very busy couple of weeks but I found the time today to go out and pick my wax peppers and quick pickle them. Can’t wait to use them on subs & homemade pizzas! I was going to wait until they turned red but the squirrels have been stealing them and leaving them with single bite marks all over my yard. It was time.
Getting ready to concoct a quick batch of cucumber kimchi shortly! As warm as the weather has been staying, it should be ready to eat tomorrow.
I found that one wildly root-hairy carrot in the bag, so it had better go first. This won't need more than maybe a third of the huge carrot, so I guess I'll be making something else with carrot soon! That ginger came from the store looking a little sad, but it's better than no ginger. I'm just using frozen chopped garlic because what we had fresh was too far past its prime.
Also substituting in a smidgen of that aged miso from the back of the fridge, since we are devoid of any kind of fish sauce. (Thai or Vietnamese style works great, btw.) That's just for a touch of umami anyway, and miso makes a decent vegan stand-in for the seafood products.
I think everything should pack into that sauerkraut jar OK, once it's salted down and wilty. If not, I'll pull out an overflow container.
Pretty much just running on experience here, but this looks like a pretty good recipe:
ETA: I'm also hoping to get a couple of jars of longer storage white cabbage kimchi made, from a wedge of cabbage that's been lurking in the fridge. Hopefully that will happen soon, too. I don't have the energy to do both at the same time today, at least if I want to eat supper.
sorry if this is a dumb question but how do i pickle things? i’m scared i’ll mess something up
Not a dumb question at all, but vinegar pickling is simple and very customizable! (Fermented pickling is also great but a bit more complicated for safety reasons, I'm assuming you mean a classic vinegar pickle)
For a simple quick pickle that you can store in the fridge, you need:
- veggie of choice, cut into slices or spears. Fresher is better (obviously cucumber is a classic, but you can pickle many veggies and fruits this way)
- vinegar (any type other than balsamic/malt works, each will impart different flavors. Traditional [and cheap] would be white vinegar)
- water
- salt
- sugar (optional)
- spices (the most customizable part! My usual is dill, peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, and chili flakes + fresh garlic. You can add in other herbs, spices, and such including warm flavors like cinnamon and fresh ginger. This is all based on your likes!)
- pot and a heat safe container (Mason jars work well, you could also use cleaned glass jars from say, pasta sauce)
How much brine you make depends on how much you want to pickle. I typically make about 2 cups of brine for a 16oz jar, with a little extra after.
In the pot, heat the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar. Most recipes suggest a 1:1 water to vinegar (1 cup of each for instance), but you can add a bit more water if you find it too strong. I typically do about a tablespoon each of salt and sugar, but you can increase either or leave out the sugar.
Add in your spices and let the mix cook a bit, till all the salt and sugar has been dissolved. You now have a brine! I usually then let the brine cool a little so it's easier to work with.
Put your veggies into a clean jar and carefully cover them with the brine, leaving a little bit of space at the top. Stir or cover and swirl around a bit to get air bubble out. Then you have pickles! They will last for a while in the fridge, if you don't eat them immediately.
For the last several years, I have had a research issue. Provoked by some of the discussion in this post on /r/AskHistorians (I am gothwalk in those comments), I went looking for evidence of vinegar pickling in Medieval Europe. I did not find it. There is brining and fermentation in plenty, but I was completely, completely, unable to find evidence of vinegar pickling before 1600. I have spent cumulative weeks on this.
There're even two books about the history of pickles; Pickled, Potted and Canned by Sue Shepherd and Pickles: A Global History by Jan Davison, both of which sort of shuffle gently around the issue (or possibly they just didn't think it was an issue, not being quite as obsessed with reonstructive cuisines as I am).
However, I have finally found evidence, and it's even written. It turns out there are multiple mentions of it (including making it clear it's vinegar, not just something else translated as pickling) in the Tacuinum Sanitatis, a medical treatise translated from an Arabic original (Taqwīm aṣ‑Ṣiḥḥa, by Abū 'l-Ḥasan al-Muḫtār Yuwānnīs ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbdūn ibn Saʿdūn ibn Buṭlān) to Latin (by several different translators, mostly in Italy) in the mid-13th century. There's a modern-ish English edition published in 1985 (with reproductions of period illustrations) called The Four Seasons of the House of Cerruti, by Judith Spencer. I discovered this in a reference in Julia Skinner's Our Fermented Lives, which is also an excellent book.