We can pickle the cucumber at home with simple ingredients. The result is a probiotic product beneficial for the gut microbiota.
Pickles in vinegar are a pickle, which is now often called pickles, in English. Cucumber, in all its varieties, is very sensitive to sudden changes in temperature and quite perishable, so it must be consumed fresh and, if not, look for some form of conservation. Pickling is precisely that: a traditional preservation technique that, in addition, allows us to obtain a product rich in probiotic bacteria that helps to take care of our microbiota.
Consuming probiotic bacteria with food is, together with the consumption of foods rich in fiber, key to enjoying a healthy microbiota or intestinal flora. Probiotic bacteria are especially abundant in fermented foods, although we can also find them in pickles. The interesting thing is to consume a variety of these products to contribute to the bacterial diversity of the intestine.
Maintaining a good bacterial balance in the intestine and favoring the diversity of bacteria that populate our digestive system decreases the risk of allergies, keeps inflammation at bay in the body and promotes immunity, among other benefits.
The pickles found in conventional supermarkets are pasteurized and have lost their probiotic properties. They have not been fermented only in water and salt, but have been pickled with pasteurized vinegar, so they do not contain probiotic bacteria. On the other hand, if we pickle the pickles at home with an unpasteurized vinegar, we will benefit from the bacteria it provides.
PICKLED PICKLE RECIPE
To make pickles you need pickles, water, sea salt, vinegar, black pepper and a few cloves of garlic. You must also get a jar and sterilize it beforehand.
- After cleaning them well, they should be placed on a tray covered with sea salt and we will leave them like that for a whole night.
- The next day we will rinse them, dry them well, and put them in our sterilized jar with some whole grains of black pepper and a few cloves of garlic.
- Then, we will cover them completely with a good unpasteurized vinegar, if possible, apple, cover the jar and reserve them for 10 days.
- After that time, we will remove the vinegar and put it in a saucepan to boil until it is reduced a little.
- We will let it cool and put it back in the jar.
- To finish we will add more new vinegar until the pickles are covered, close the jar hermetically and store it in a cool place.
- After 15 or 20 days they will be ready to consume.
HOW TO USE PICKLES IN THE KITCHEN
There are different varieties of cucumbers, but beyond their differences in skin color they are practically the same in terms of taste. Pickle, on the other hand, is a variety that is grown mainly to be used in pickles.
It is collected in an early phase of maturation, when it is still quite small, and then pickled so that it is preserved and can be served in appetizers and tapas.
The pickles have a crunchy texture, marry well with pepper or capers and can be used as a garnish for seitan or tempeh dishes.
There are places in the world where they are also consumed fried, battered in a flour and egg paste. They are also delicious if we wrap them in a dough made of coconut milk and chickpea flour before frying them.
