Persian Pickles
Depending on the time of year, the first thing you smell when you open the door to my father’s house is vinegar. What is this all about?, you wonder upon entry. You take off your shoes, walk into the larder room, and open the refrigerator. Staring back at you will inevitably be jar upon jar upon jar of pickles. Cucumbers. Peppers. Tomatoes. Onions. Garlic. And not small jars, either; I’m talking 5 liter monstrosities, filled to the brim with Michigan summer and Iranian flavor. It can literally take your breath away…and then later, at dinner, you eat one, with your rice and your lamb and you think to yourself: ahhh, ok— a couple of days in a vinegar-scented home is totally worth it if this crunchy bite of joy is what you get.
The recipe below is for a mixed vegetable pickle in a vinegar brine. You could just as easily choose one single vegetable. Experiment and enjoy, and remember that the vinegar smell will fade, but the pickles will last for ages.
Ingredients:
350 ml apple cider vinegar
200 ml cold water
1 Tbsp fine sea salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tsp mixed whole spices, optional (I enjoy a mixture of coriander seeds, peppercorns, fennel seeds, and nigella seeds)
900g vegetables, washed and, if necessary, cut into pieces (cabbage, celery, beet, radish, turnip, green beans, cucumbers, kohlrabi, peppers, garlic, tomatoes— you get the picture: anything goes)
Method:
In a medium pan, mix together the vinegar, water, salt and sugar, and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 10 minutes, making sure that the sugar and salt both dissolve into the liquid. Turn off the heat and move the pan aside to cool.
Add your spices, if using, and allow the brine to cool.
Clean and sterilize a 1 liter glass jar, and allow it to cool. Pack your vegetables into the jar, cutting them further down to size if and when necessary to fit.
Once your brine is cool, carefully pour it over your jar of vegetables, making sure that you leave a 1 inch headspace at the top of the jar and that all your vegetables are fully submerged in the brine.
Seal immediately. Place in fridge. Wait a day. Eat.