{"id":26791,"date":"2017-11-14T10:49:10","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T15:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=26791"},"modified":"2021-04-19T09:51:03","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T13:51:03","slug":"preserved-recipes-for-todays-celebration-national-pickle-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/preserved-recipes-for-todays-celebration-national-pickle-day.html","title":{"rendered":"Preserved Recipes for Today\u2019s Celebration: National Pickle Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article \u2013 to celebrate today being National Pickle Day \u2013 Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to find our ancestors\u2019 pickle recipes. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.<\/span>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

National Pickle Day is today! What pickle will you eat to celebrate? Will it be the sour dill pickle or maybe the neon green Chicago Hot Dog relish? Maybe you are partial to bread and butter pickles? How about a pickled vegetable that harkens to your ancestral roots like sauerkraut, kimchee, or Mexican pickled carrots?<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: a large, whole, deli pickle. Credit: United States Department of Health and Human Services; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pickles have been around for thousands of years and were the part of your ancestor\u2019s diet that added extra flavor and a boost of Vitamin K.*<\/p>\n

Whatever type of pickle it is, pickles have an important place in history and rightly so. Pickling helps take fresh produce and preserves it so that it doesn\u2019t spoil. The process of pickling immerses raw produce in acidic liquid or saltwater brine until it is no longer susceptible to spoilage.**<\/p>\n

Historical newspapers are filled with standard cucumber pickle recipes, including this 1902 version that calls for horseradish, vinegar, salt, mace, onion, black pepper, turmeric, mustard, green pepper, and onions.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Daily Herald (Biloxi, Mississippi), 21 June 1902, page 9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beyond the Cucumber<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everyone is familiar with pickled cucumbers, but pretty much anything can be pickled. While you may stick to the tried and true cucumber, your ancestors pickled fruits, vegetables, and even meat.<\/p>\n

One example of a pickled fruit is this 1961 \u201cdelightful\u201d golden watermelon pickle recipe which calls for 1-inch cubes of rind with the green and pink portions removed, cinnamon, and cloves. Watermelon pickles make good use of the watermelon rind that might otherwise be thrown away.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 24 August 1961, section 5, page 10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tomatoes are another fruit that can be pickled. Green pickled tomatoes taste great and this old \u201cNew England recipe\u201d using a crock might be of interest to those who want to try their hands at making this type of pickle. This recipe calls for brown sugar, chopped peppers, ginger, allspice, salt, cloves and cinnamon.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Washington Bee (Washington, D.C.), 28 December 1907, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pickled Meat<\/strong><\/p>\n

My guess is that you may have just read the header \u201cPickled Meat\u201d and groaned a bit. Some of the men in my family enjoy pickled pig\u2019s feet, which do not appeal to me at all, but I too have enjoyed other types of \u201cpickled\u201d meat. After all, corned beef is \u201cpickled,\u201d and modern-day cooks might use a brine (which uses water and salt) to prepare their Thanksgiving turkey.<\/p>\n

This 1883 newspaper article about pickling meat points out the waste that ensues when meat is not cured. Pickling, of course, helped preserve foods for the long term and was vital in the years before refrigeration. This article states that this pickled meat recipe is a popular one published over the years, and is superior to all other recipes. This recipe includes the use of saltpeter to remove surface blood \u201cleaving the meat fresh and clean.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin), 27 March 1883, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin), 27 March 1883, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I love this corned beef recipe that includes the instruction to immerse the beef into a pot of water and saltpeter, and then count to ten slowly before removing it. The beef is eventually packed in a barrel with a liquid consisting of saltpeter, molasses, salt, sugar and pearlash (potassium carbonate).<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
New Orleans Times (New Orleans, Louisiana), 7 August 1875, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What Are Your Favorite Pickles?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love all types of pickles and pickled foods \u2013 what about you? Do you have any special memories of familial pickle recipes? One pickle relish I remember my grandmother made is \u201cChow-Chow.\u201d This North American relish can differ in the vegetable ingredients used depending on the region. Chow-Chow is served as a condiment (I vaguely remember that we ate it with beans). Depending on the region and ingredients, Chow-Chow varies in sweetness.***<\/p>\n

Do you make pickles? I\u2019d love to hear about your food memories in the comments section below.<\/p>\n

———————–<\/p>\n

* \u201cWhy You Should Care About National Pickle Day,\u201d Titos (http:\/\/texastitos.com\/care-national-pickle-day.html<\/a>: accessed 4 November 2017).
\n** \u201cHistory in a Jar: The Story of Pickles,\u201d The History Kitchen (http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/food\/the-history-kitchen\/history-pickles\/<\/a>: accessed 4 November 2017).
\n*** \u201cChow-chow (food),\u201d Wikipedia (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chow-chow_(food)<\/a>: accessed 4 November 2017).<\/p>\n

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