Food and Drink Atlas

How The World Eats
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Culinary Technique

Pickling

Food Preservation and Curing Techniques

Pickling is a food preservation technique that extends a food's shelf life either through anaerobic lactic-acid fermentation in a salt brine or through direct immersion in vinegar, both of which create an acidic environment that inhibits spoilage organisms while adding a distinctive sour flavor. Vinegar pickling likely originated in ancient Persia and Mesopotamia, while brine-fermented pickling is credited to an independent early development in China; the technique has since become a fixture of cuisines worldwide, from European sauerkraut and cornichons to South Asian achar and Korean kimchi. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Origin Period, From (Year)
from 2400 BCE 1
Origin Region
Mesopotamia 1
Connections

Uses Ingredient

Vinegar, Ingredients
Source Pickling (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Pickling (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Lead section
    Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar.
  • History section
    Pickling with vinegar likely originated in ancient Persia and Mesopotamia around 2400 BCE
  • In Category: Culinary Techniques
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.