When Talking about Salt, can Pickle be far away!!??

Dear Reader

You will agree that pickle is the next obvious destination when the talk is of brine and preserving. The Celebrity chef Kunal Kapoor said we are a 'pickle nation'. We swear by it!!  Pickle substitutes any side dish for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Not only can we turn any vegetable, fruit, egg, and/or meat into a pickle. It is the common man's salad. 

   But here is some interesting history of pickles--

• It is rumoured that pickles were one of the famous and prized beauty secrets of Cleopatra 

• As far back as 2030BC, cucumbers were pickled in India in the Tigris Valley

• Pickle is considered to be the earliest form of preserved, mobile food 👌 and so much for modernity😋

• As geographical expeditions began, people travelled to new worlds, they carried food that would be with them for some time and preserve their health-pickles

• It is said that that's how kosher Dill Pickle was introduced to the USA by Jewish immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Cucumbers were washed and piled in large wooden barrels with dill, garlic, spices, kosher salt, and clean water. They would be left to ferment for a few weeks to several months. Selling this pickle was one of the ways to survive in a new land. This became one of the most profitable businesses within the Jewish community. Today, it is one of the complimentary foods served in restaurants. 

Here are some (inter)national favourites from across the globe

1. Giardiniera is an Italian pickle made from onions, carrots, peppers, zucchini, and cauliflowers. The veggies are fermented in either red or white wine vinegar with a variety of herbs like chilli flakes, oregano, and garlic.  

2. L'hmad markad (Morocco) is their version of lemon pickle. The most basic recipe uses lemon, lemon juice, water, and salt. Since the lemons are tart, they are used to cut down the acidity. 

3. Torshi is the pickle of the Middle East. Derived from the Persian word torsh, which translates to sour, is made from any fresh vegetable. Pickling fresh turnips in vinegar, salt, water, and garlic is one of the refreshing pickles. 

4. Kimchi is supposed to be the national dish of South Korea as it is an integral part of their history. Typical kimchi has napa cabbage, garlic, and chile peppers. It has inspired poets who mentioned it in their poems. (Like Shakespeare who popularized the phrase 'in a pickle' . . . he mentions it in The Tempest (Act 5, Sc 1) and Antony and Cleopatra (Act 2, Sc 5 and of course, not to forget our own Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar's Bhootayyan Maga Ayyu) 

5. The pickled herring of Sweden is another interesting pickle. They have been pickling herring since the Middle Ages. The most basic version, I understand, combines salt, vinegar, and spices to the herrings. 

6. Sauerkraut of Germany has yet another interesting travel history. It is supposed to have travelled from China who pickled cabbage in rice wine. Mongolians who travelled to Europe in the 13th C introduced this to Europe. In Germany, this pickle gets an additional flavour from Juniper berries.  

The list is endless. the pickle that has caught the Indian imagination is undoubtedly Mango. there are as many versions of this as there are tribes and communities in India. But just to mention some exotic pickles of India-

       the bamboo shoot pickle of Meghalaya also has developed a dance style that resembles the process of making this pickle,        

         the lagan nu pickle of the Parsis is auspicious as it is customary to exchange it before finalizing the marriage 

         the mahal pickle of the Tamil Brahmins lasts up to two years-- the pickle is made from curds 

Here is another Indian pickle shared by a celebrity nutritionist --https://www.instagram.com/p/BoOZVTMlfsB/?utm_source=ig_embed

My own interest in this amazing food must be traced to my mother whose mouthwatering amate kaayi (hog plum, I believe in English) pickle I swear by. 

Disclaimer (this is necessary, pardon me)

          Today, there is a genuine concern regarding pickles as a form of food that gives us nutrition because of the high content of sodium in the pickles. As brine (saltwater) is used to ferment the main ingredients, a regular intake puts health at greater risk of high blood pressure and cancer. Ayurveda suggests a limited to moderate intake of pickles. (I found this blog by an ayurvedic doctor, do read if you would like to-- https://www.easyayurveda.com/2017/02/21/avoid-pickles-food/)    

do share your favourite pickle 👇 Looking forward to hearing some stories from you.   

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Please share your comments at rekhadatta02@gmail.com or message me @rekhadatta1 on Instagram. I shall send the links to you personally. Thanks for your patience.

   

 

 

It's time for rituals and so, its a fist of salt ( A Pinch of Salt:Part 2)

 Dear Reader

In the history of Salt so far, we have seen its role in forming civilization, grooming economics, and its role in power politics. 

This post presents how salt is regarded in various religions around the world and myths about salt in various cultures of the world. Most of these myths stem from the preserving nature of salt. It's fascinating to see the earliest connection between man and preservation. Here are some myths surrounding Salt in various religions:

Salt as a preserving and longevity agent: 

1. Preserving is associated with longevity and fertility. It is believed that early Egyptians protected the 'mummies' by covering them in salt'

2. To the Hebrews, salt represents the covenant of God with Israel. Thus the followers of the Jewish religion, on their Sabbath Day, dip the holy bread in Salt to eat. The bread is the symbol of food-a gift from God and dipping it in salt means the continuance of the bond between Man and God. 

3. Salt is also used to make promises as it is immutable. In both Islam and Hebrew religions, a pact is sealed with salt. Indians swear by salt and are vary of it too (one is bound by uppina runa- literally, the debt of salt-  for seven births. So, it is a practice to pour water on salt served by friends/relatives at the beginning of lunch/dinner) 

4. Ancient Romans and Greeks used to invoke their Gods with salt and water, which is considered to be the origin of the 'Holy Water' in Christianity. Thus, the Catholic Church dispenses not only Holy Water but also Holy Salt=Sal Sapientia -the Salt of Wisdom.

5. It is a Jewish practice to carry Salt and Bread to a new home. The British dispensed with carrying bread but continued to carry salt into new homes as a harbinger of prosperity. 

6. The City of Hamburg, Germany, renews its blessings every year by carrying chocolate-covered bread and marzipan saltcellar filled with sugar. 

 Salt as a potent medicine against evil: 

  1. It is believed that evil spirits detest salt. So, in traditional Japanese Theater, salt would be sprinkled just before the play began to protect both the performance and the actors. 

2. In Haiti, salt was the only agent to bring a Zombie back to life. 

3. In the Caribbean and Africa, it is believed that evil spirits shed their skin to enter the women to possess. Thus, the shed skin would be buried in salt so that the evil spirits could be destroyed when they try to return to their bodies.

4. Both Jewish people and Muslims believe that salt destroys evil spirits.

5. In India, if the babies within a year cry for no known reason, it is believed that the baby is targeted by an 'evil eye'. To cast off the evil eye, a woman takes rock salt in her fist and moves her fist around the baby in an anti-clockwise direction. This salt then would either be dissolved in water and thrown into a ditch or thrown into the fire to destroy the evil eye. 

6. In Europe, it was the custom to protect newborn babies by rubbing their tongues with salt or submerging them in salt water. In France, this practice was abolished by 1408. 

 

Well, it is yet another story of civilization about how salt played a central role in domesticating wild goats and sheep in the earliest times. People learned to domesticate some of these animals to protect their salt!! And it's an entirely different discourse of the very famous Soy Sauce-that it was also a means of preserving salt and so, in many Chinese cuisines, Soy Sauce was used instead of salt !! 

I am certain that innumerable stories of salt are available and are interesting. And if you have one such story, do share 👇 Looking forward to hearing some stories from you.   

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Please share your comments at rekhadatta02@gmail.com or message me @rekhadatta1 on Instagram. I shall send the links to you personally. Thanks for your patience.  

    

 

  

A pinch of Salt? A lot more than that!! (Part 1)

Dear Reader

When (re)searching for information on asafetida, a curious question led me to do some extra reading on Salt. The question that arose was in the recipe section that said 'no salt required'. I began to wonder if at all it was natural to add salt to our food and if so, from when did we begin to add salt to food? To my pleasant surprise, there are quite a lot of researched books on Salt. And what these books did is more than a surprise because who will not vouch for the politics of food? 

     Ask anyone!! The first test for a newlywed bride is if she can add a measure of salt in the food, without tasting it!! There is a folktale about how women were 'chosen' as homemakers. The 'girl' would be asked to cook food with all the ingredients provided. If the food served was tasty, with the right amount of salt in it, she will make a good homemaker. If the salt is less, then she is stingy and will not take care of all the members of the family; and if she has added extra salt, then she is a spendthrift and not at all a good wife or a homemaker😳😳 so much for salt, for a beginning!! And not to forget the all-important tragedy written by William Shakespeare King Lear, originating in French folk tale. In the tale, the King abandons his daughter as she said "I love you as much as I like salt". Angered by the comparison, he expels her, only to realise its significance when he ate his food without salt. 

   Please don't think that the folktale made a 'silly connection' between 'Salt' and 'finances' and 'relationships'. To begin with, remember Dandi March starting from 12 March 1930 to 6 April 1930. History vouches for the fact that salt has waged wars and won them. "It is recorded that thousands of Napolean's troops died during his retreat from Moscow because their wounds would not heal due to lack of salt. In 1777, the British Lord Howe was jubilant when he successfully captured General Washington's salt supply. Salt motivated the American pioneers. The American Revolution had heroes who were salt makers, and a part of the British strategy was to deny the American rebels access to salt. Salt was on the mind of William Clark in the groundbreaking Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Northwest. The first patent issued by the British crown to an American settler gave Samuel Winslow of the Massachusetts Bay Colony the exclusive right for ten years to make salt by his particular method"  (https://seasalt.com/history-of-salt)

       No wonder the early man built a home where either salt was abundant or at least quickly available. It is believed that the discovery of new sea routes was from the cities which had little or no salt to cities where salt was in abundance. The earliest sea routes discovered were for salt merchandise making it one of the most essential commodities. Thus, cities were built and named after derivates of salt. The city of 'Salzburg' literally means 'city of salt' which could be reached travelling via 'Salaria' (the road to salt) in Italy😀  The pride of our hard work at workplace-'salary' comes from the Latin root word 'sal' which is used to form the word 'salt'. And the dietician's most reliable nutritious food 'salad' comes from the Latin 'hernia salata' or 'salted greens'. It is believed to have grown out of the ancient Roman habit of dipping romaine lettuce in salt. And that tradition was changed by salting the greens by dressing them with vinaigrette, which was made out of a simple combination of olive oil, vinegar, and salt.  

     Dear Reader, I will need another post to share the role of salt in religion and some of its interesting cultural connotations. Hope the wait will be 'worth the salt' 😍. 

   Do share your comments and information you would want to share 👇 and if you are happy to read my blog posts hit the follow button👉

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