Exploring cultures while gardening and cooking with kids: Pickles
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EmailCucumbers are relatively easy to grow and pickles are a favorite snack for many kids. Making refrigerator pickles with kids can be a fun and tasty activity.
If you like to eat, you are engaging with cultures from around the world. What do we know about the foods we grow and eat? Where did they come from? Have you ever thought about a food's history or how food traveled around the world to your garden or dinner plate?
Gardening is a great way to introduce kids to a variety of fruits and vegetables. Exploring the origins of the foods we love, and where the ingredients grow, is a fun way to incorporate the exploration of world cultures into your garden. Kids can research new recipes or create their own recipes, learning new ways to prepare their harvest into tasty dishes. Eating new foods is a great way to learn to appreciate people from all backgrounds, from across town to across the world.
Cucumbers are relatively easy to grow and pickles are a favorite snack for many kids. Making refrigerator pickles with kids can be a fun and tasty activity! Michigan State University Extension encourages you to take a closer look at pickles:
- Cucumbers are native to India.
- Over 4,000 years ago, people from Mesopotamia (situated within the Tigris – Euphrates River system, modern-day Iraq) soaked cucumbers in acidic brine to preserve them. This is one of the oldest methods of food preservation.
- Pickles were brought to America by Christopher Columbus. They traveled well on long journeys and helped to prevent scurvy, which was a common disease caused by a Vitamin C deficiency in the diet. Many long-distance sailors and explorers experienced scurvy due to the lack of fruits and vegetables in their diets.
- In 1659, Dutch farmers grew cucumbers in an area of New York that is now Brooklyn. They pickled them and began selling them out of barrels on the street.
- J. Heinz produced the first commercially available pickles in 1861.
- Jewish immigrants in New York introduced kosher pickles in the late 1800s Historically, kosher pickles were pickled in a salt brine with the addition of garlic.
Want to try making your own? This simple recipe for kids is adapted from Self-Proclaimed Foodie.
Easy Refrigerator Dill Pickles
This recipe will make approximately 5 pints.
Ingredients
- 10-12 pickling cucumbers
- 4 cups water
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- A big bunch of dill (thick stems removed)
- Several cloves of garlic, to taste, with skins removed and smashed
- Peppercorn kernels, 7-12 per jar
You could also experiment with adding other ingredients such as hot pepper flakes, jalapenos or other herbs and spices, including dried dill weed, to take your pickles to the next level.
Instructions
- Sanitize canning jars.
- Thoroughly wash cucumbers and then slice into 1/4-inch-thick slices or spears. Set aside.
- Peel and smash garlic cloves and separate dill from thick stems.
- Prepare brine. Combine water, vinegar, salt and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to ensure the sugar and salt dissolve. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
- Make the pickles. Layer the prepared cucumbers with the fresh dill, smashed garlic, and peppercorns in the jars. Do not pack too tight, leaving room for the brine. Cover the cucumbers with brine. Seal with an airtight lid and store in the refrigerator. The flavor is best if you wait at least one week, but they can be eaten anytime. The pickles can be stored in the fridge for 4-6 weeks.
For more information on pickles, view the MSU Extension article, Fresh cucumbers and cucumber pickles, or view the MSU Extension video Refrigerator Pickles.
