Brine Pickles and Nourishing Traditions
My family used to like to make brine-pickled cucumbers. These are delicious traditional pickles made by my grandparents, the recipe handed down for generations. The liquid or kvass is considered a medicinal drink.
My mother always said that she did not know why, but the cucumbers would not turn into pickles unless you used organic cucumbers.
I learned the hard way that she was right. When I put together brine, cucumbers, garlic, and fresh dill as she had instructed me, it turned into a smelly, slimey mess.
“Did you use organic cucumbers?” she asked me.
“Honestly, Mom, I didn’t think it could possibly matter,” I said.
“Now you know,” she said. She was right.
I’ve just discovered why non-organic cucumbers don’t work. The explanation is in Sally Fallon’s excellent cookbook, Nourishing Traditions. Organic pickles have more enzymes and cucumbers will not ferment if they don’t have enough enzymes.
This is a fantastic cookbook, full of nutritional advice and explanations for the nutritional basis of our grandparents’ wisdom in the kinds of foods they prepared.
You can read more about research into traditional nutrition on the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation web site at:
They also have a number of free downloadable articles.
Copyright 2008 Carol Chapman
