New Netherland in a Pickle
For thousands of years food preservation has relied on a few
methods for making harvested foods last through the winter or even making some
foods more palatable. There are five
basic preservation methods: Sun drying - fruits, vegetables, herbs, meat and
fish. Salting and smoking meat, fish,
seafood and vegetables. Fermenting -
using yeast to preserve grains, milk and fruits. Pickling - using salt brine or vinegar to
preserve fruit, vegetables and even meat and fish. Sugaring - covering nuts,
spices and fruits with honey or cane sugar.
Pickling has been a part of food preservation since the
beginning of human history. Some of the
earliest methods of pickling were seen in Mesopotamia and used in every culture around the
world. In the Ancient World Cleopatra
was fond of pickled fruits because she felt they made her beautiful. Roman armies would be given pickled foods to
help energize them for long marches.
Pickled fish and melons were preferred in Eqypt. Pickled olives, lemons and artichokes were
preferred along northern Mediterranean areas and radishes, cabbage, bitter
melons and mushrooms in Asia.1
The word “pickle” comes from the Dutch word “pekel” which
means brine and is the first step for pickling.
Fresh vegetables, fruit, meat or fish would be submerged in salt brine
for a few days to extract moisture. The
open barrels would be put out in the sun, the UV rays of the sun helping to
kill harmful bacteria. Most receipts
about pickling use one technique for telling when the brine is salty enough,
“mix it(salt) well with water till an egg swims with its top just above the
water.”2 In the 17th century flavoring the
brine with spices such as pepper, dill, coriander and ginger improved the taste
of new foreign fruits and vegetables
that were starting to come into Europe from Asian and New World markets. One newer vegetable to Europe synonymous with
pickling was the cucumber. Cucumbers came
from India. The raw form of cucumbers
went in and out of favor in Europe. In
the 18th century they were
considered poisonous in England.
They were called cowcumbers because they were seen as fit only for cows. 3
Early explorers were taking pickled vegetables onboard ships
when they traveled to help prevent scurvy.
The merchant hired to stock Christopher Columbus’ ships was Amerigo
Vespucci, a pickle merchant. Columbus
brought cucumber seeds to Haiti and planted them to provide a food source for
other ships and sailors coming to the New World.4
In the Netherlands one of the favorites in the pickle family was
pickled herring. From their location on
the North Sea, pickled herring has become a national dish, served with sour
pickled cucumbers. Dutch sailors were
considered to be very healthy during the 16th and 17th
centuries because of the availability of pickled herring and zuurkool “pickled cabbage” which was
brought on the long journey to Asia. The
settlement of Cape Town on the Cape of Good Hope in Africa was established for
farmers to restock the supply of cabbage onboard the Dutch East India ships.6 When the Dutch came to New Netherland they brought many seeds of vegetables and
fruits from Europe. Dutch farmers in
Breukelen were known for growing cucumbers and taking them to New Amsterdam to
be pickled and sold. A large pickling
industry grew up in New Amsterdam.
Everything changed for preservation and pickling in the 19th
century. A few new inventions helped
bring canning to popularity and changed the use of the salt brine. In 1851 a Scottish chemist invented the use
of paraffin wax in the process of preservation making it much easier to store
foods in airtight containers. In 1858
the patent of the Mason jar created heavier jars for use in home preservation so
the jar can be boiled to seal and sterilize.
Tin cans made food preservation much more mechanized and handled by
large factories and sold in stores. As
store bought food gained in popularity, refridgerators preserved our foods and
people left farm life, the ideas of food preservation became less of a
necessity and more of a fun activity for the fall.
By the late 19th and early 20th
century pickle carts were purchased cheaply by immigrants in New York City and
pickled cucumbers sold more as a quick snack.
New immigrants could make money quickly and invest in more carts or even
in a storefront after a period of time.
Essex St. in the Lower East Side of Manhattan became known as “pickle
alley” because of the large amount of pickle sellers. 5 During times of economic hardship,
like the 1930’s, pushcarts were not just for immigrants but for those trying to
sell anything to make money. A variety of immigrant foods became popular or
just hot foods for people on the go. The
idea of street food vendors becomes a way of life in New York City. In the mid to late 20th century
lawmakers were trying to “clean up the streets” by moving push carts and open
air vendors to one location or indoor market areas where they would have to pay
rent for a stall or space. This was not
a popular idea for vendors or for customers and never caught on.
Besides the favorite dill pickle from Eastern
Europe, other flavors of pickled cucumbers are being tried including sweet,
sour, salty, hot or all of the above. Pickles can be made with cauliflower,
radishes, onions, green beans, asparagus and a seemingly endless variety of
other vegetables and fruits. When the English arrived in the New World, they had
brought their method for creating sweet pickles with vinegar, sugar and spiced
syrup. Germans and Eastern Europeans introduced various forms of
lacto-fermented cabbage like sauerkraut. The French serve tiny, spiced
cornichons with heavy pâtés and pungent cheeses. In the Middle East pickles are
served with every meal, from peppers to olives to lemons. Russians pickle
tomatoes, among other things. Koreans have their kimchi, the Japanese pickle
plums and daikon, and Italians pickle eggplants and peppers. Each area of the
world has its own beloved variety of pickle.7
2 ed. Keller, Jane
Carpenter, Eleen Miller and Paul Stambach. “On the Score of Hospitality,
Selected Receipts of a Van Rensselaer Family. Albany, New York 1785-1835.” Historic Cherry Hill: Albany, NY. 1986.
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