A Green Warty Thing
When I think "pickle," I immediately think about a green, warty thing that looks like a Sasquatch toe or maybe an old person's nose. As I roll the thought of this salty, sour, spicy, sweet, bottled, briny object around in my head, many memories begin to replay. In fifth grade, "pickle" was runner up to poop for the funniest word you could say, and in middle school I wouldn't have been caught dead with a pickle in my lunch box because that was socially condemned. Around the beginning of High School, my love for pickled foods was rekindled by an unsightly bottle of murky water.
I say "pickled foods" because cucumbers aren't the only pickles. Pickling is the act of preservation by soaking anything that grows from the ground in putrid liquids called brines. They don't actually smell as bad as people say; they're just an acquired scent. Brine is, however, murky. Very very murky. But it was that clouded liquid, sighted at the start of High School, which launched me on an appreciative journey through history, which I will now take you on in this article.
As is solidly believed among historical scholars, pickling became a tradition before 850 BC, the year that Aristotle wrote about how great he thought pickles were. Cleopatra's testament to the age defying effects of eating pickles consistently takes the art of pickling back to an era earlier than Aristotle and Greek philosophy. Actually, Numbers 11:5 and Isaiah 1:8 in the Bible mention pickles. It's totally kosher to pickle stuff, so the ancient Hebrews bring to the modern Jew an enjoyable history of dills. This lovely culture was spread even beyond the expanse of the Middle East to Europe, Asia, and wherever Jews were fleeing during the diaspora.
In Europe, pickling especially flourished. Green warty things and vinegary veggies made a mark on Europe that remains today but became sublimely essential in the fifteenth century, when Amerigo Vespucci sailed to America. If you didn't know, the Americas were named after Amerigo Vespucci, who was a former street vender selling, you guessed it, pickles. Now the age old fad of soaking your goods in brine and spices to preserve them had staked a claim in two more continents: North and South America.
Meanwhile, in Asia, pickling took on a life of its own, as do all things in Asian culture. Asian culture is actually my favorite culture. It is deeper, richer, more vibrant, more creative, and more beautiful than any other culture, in my opinion. And although I can't remember the last time I ate at an Asian restaurant, I plainly remember the last time I ate baby corn. A delicacy created in Asia, I adore baby corn. Those little things live up to their name. They're literally baby corn that's been picked prematurely. I could honestly eat those things for the rest of my life and be quite content. It's evident to me that pickles aren't just the wonder food of the west, but a serious middle ground where nearly all people can meet and say "hey, I like your pickles." But this ethnic diffusion doesn't stop with the pickle, and neither does this article. Let the racial, social, cultural, and meshing continue and never stop.
