The juicy, consuming, salty, taste of pickles is what usually attracts most people to them. Especially the usual challenge of opening the jar and wasting all your energy to open it, and then finally collapsing on the ground from loss of motivation. Usually, the taste is the main reason nowadays why people eat pickles. But it wasn’t in 2400 B.C.
Some people actually do believe that pickling started way back, 4,000 years ago. But pickling back then wasn’t just for taste. It was used for preservation, also known as, keeping your food fresh. Just like at your house, you have a refrigerator to keep your food fresh. Well, that wasn’t invented until the 1800’s. So, people used pickling to make sure they weren’t vomiting 24/7. Some famous people, including Christopher Columbus, used the pickling method for preserving as well. Scurvy on ships at sea, was a huge problem back then. It’s estimated that it killed at least 2 million sailors throughout 1500-1800. Scurvy is known as loss of Vitamin C, one of the Vitamins that keeps your body healthy.
Pickling has become a common practice among many countries with a variety of fruits and vegetables. Pickled samples are stamped with countries for their unique tastes, techniques, properties, and culture and history. Nowadays, because of the discovery of more Citrus- like fruits, Scurvy isn't such a common sickness, but you can still get it. Remember, there are tons of pickles to try if you're looking for something new.
This series will be continued, on a journey around the world with a variety of different pickles. In the next article, we will be studying the Bread and Butter pickle. A sweet but tangy pickle.
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