Why do we pickle foods?

Answer 1

Eaten in moderation, it's fine to pickle and eat pickled food. It has been connected to health problems for three separate reasons:

# The heavy salt used (high sodium) in pickling is bad for blood pressure. # The Nitrates used in commercial pickling have been linked consistently to stomach cancer. # Indirectly, but probably the leading association: In societies where pickling is used extensively, is it due to lack of fresh vegetables (and by extension, probably fruit) so that it's not the pickling per se, but rather what pickled vegetables, meat and fish are replacing in the diet.

Answer 2

Pickling alters the taste of foods permanently by soaking them in a solution that changes their flavor but allows them to be preserved for a longer period of time. Pickling can only be used for foods that will be used pickled. Once you have pickled something, you cannot substitute it for a fresh ingredient in a recipe.

Answer 3

Originally it was to preserve food to eat during the long winter months. But, nowadays, with fridges and freezers, and imports of food, eating pickled foods (onions, eggs, red cabbage, beetroot, and so on) is more a matter of taste and a delicacy.

Answer 4

Some people pickle food because they enjoy that tart taste. Other people pickle food so they can have it when that food is out of season.