Throughout the year, the huge terrace of our ancestral house in Kolkata was used for the purpose of sun-drying seasonal fruits and vegetables like raw-mangoes, Chalta (elephant apple), Kodbel (wood-apple), Jalpai (Indian Olives), topa kool (wild plum), Lime, Chilli, Tamarind; the first step of traditional pickling. The next steps depended on the type of pickle; sweet or savory. Various spices were dry-roasted and mixed along with oil, brine or jaggery to the semi-dried fruits and vegetables, then bottled in sterilized, glass jars, to be enjoyed by family, neighbors and friends. The complete process of pickling varied from a week to a month. There was no scope for short-cuts. Precision and vigilant monitoring were the keys to the perfect blend and taste of the pickles, and it was done by none other than my aunt, Pepe. She was pretty much an institution in the art of pickle-making.
One of my fondest childhood relaxations was, sneaking up to the terrace, managing to get a quick hand-full out of the enticing, sun-bathing pickle jars and sampling the delightfully sweet, sour, and spicy mixtures of ‘imli’, ‘kachhi kairi’ pickles in the afternoon, reading Enid Blyton paperbacks, and enjoying the cosy warmth of the sun-filled veranda in the chilly winters of Kolkata.
I used to save my pocket money very judiciously and often buy pickles like ‘Amra’, ‘Kodbel’ and spicy ‘Aam masala’ from the ‘Achar-wala’ stationed outside our school gate on the way back home. This had to be done discreetly and on the sly, as buying from the street vendors was strictly disapproved by the parents and the school authorities for the reason of dubious standard of hygiene of the products. However, the real challenge was managing to ditch my kid-sister and surreptitiously relish the contents all by myself!
There have been several brawls with my cousins over the complicated equation of equal sharing of pickles at my granny’s place. Many tearful incidences and revengeful episodes have occurred in the past, over a dollop of pickles!
Spice up your Life
Pickling is one of the oldest methods of food preservation and is believed to be the gift of the ancient Mesopotamians around 2400 B.C.
A spoonful of pickle can tickle the taste buds to no limits. In India, pickles or ‘achaar’ go hand in hand with almost every meal. Pickles are one of the most convincing ways to get fussy eaters like me to eat the basic daal rice or roti sabzi.
From South Korean Kimchi to Sauerkraut of Germany or the Italian Giardiniera, all over the world pickles are not only used as food enhancers but also to satiate the off-season cravings of fruits, vegetables as well as non-veg items. There are numerous advantages of having Pickles. In small quantities, pickles are great digestives; full of antioxidants, loaded with vitamins and minerals. The acetic acid in pickles helps to maintain blood sugar levels and increase hemoglobin in the blood.
If you believe in history, Queen Cleopatra of Egypt credited the pickles in her diet to be one of the many reasons contributing to her legendary beauty and health. Julius Caesar and other Roman emperors believed that including pickles in the diet of their troops would make them stronger. Christopher Columbus reportedly made pickles mandatory for his sailors in order to prevent Scurvy, which was caused due to the deficiency of Vitamin C during long voyages. Napoleon declared a huge sum of prize money to whoever could do the best pickling to preserve food for his troops!
In recent times, pickles have been bad-tagged by many because of the high sodium and oil content. As a result, several food businesses have come up with modified and healthier versions of pickles, which range from oil-free to low-salt content variants of traditional pickles.
Despite the considerable commercialization of pickles, traditional home-pickling is till now the most preferred ritual in most households. Each family follows their own unique, carefully-guarded recipes and techniques handed over through generations. The outcome is a jar of a masterpiece in the form of tongue-tickling pickle, which serves as the ideal condiment at meal times or can be a life savior when the food is too bland beyond appreciation.
Be it my personal favorite, the homemade varieties or the popular brands available in the market, a little ‘achaar’ can never be a potential culprit. From parathas to burgers, pickles help to compliment the taste of food all around the world!
