Use and preparation of food

4. Crisp vegetables, such as cabbage, cauliflower, onions, green beans, green tomatoes, and pepi)ers, either singly or in any desired ])roportion, may be used for jjickles. Firm fruits, such as apples, peaches, pears, and melon rind, are suitable for pickling. Relishes are made of various highly seasoned combinations of green or ripo 184 L'SE AXD PREPARATION OF FOOD. fruits or vegetalile;^, sometimes left in pieces and in some cases cooked to a pulp and strained. 5. Steps in pickling: A. Eemoval of excess Avater. — A'egetables used for pickle making- are more than four-fifths Avater. Unless some of this is removed liefore the vinegar is added, it Avill weaken the vinegar so the pickles will not keep. The water may be removed by : (1) Salt brining. — Vegetables may be soaked overnight or longer in a strong brine (1 pint salt to 1 gallon water.) (2) Dry salting. — Sliced vegetables may be placed in layers, salt sprinkled between the layers, and left to drain. (3) Mechanical pressure. — Finely chopped vegetables may be pressed in a bag or a press to remove excess water. (4) Combination of dry salting and mechanical pressure. — • Vegetables may be dry salted, as in 2, and then pressed in a bag or press to remove the water. (5) In the case of some fruit pickles, where the use of salt to extract the water would add an undesirable flavor, the w^ater is removed by evaporation during the process of cooking. (6) Unless the vegetable is to be left for some time in brine as a preservative, or unless the salt is used to control fermentation, avoid using so nmch salt that it is neces- sary to soak the vegetables in water before the vinegar is added. When this is done, some of the water content is replaced in the vegetables. "Where it is necessary to remove excess salt, as in the case. of vegetables which have been long in brine, the vegetables may be soaked in vinegar so that it enters the cells in place of the water which has been removed. 0. ]Metliods of adding vinegar and flavoring material. — In order that the vinegar and the flavoring material ma}' thoroughly pene- trate the cells the pickle must either be finely chopped, so that the cells are broken, or heated sufficiently to allow the pickling fluid to pass through the cell walls. Long cooking is not desirable. If cooked too long, or at too high a temperature, pickles lose the fresh, crisp taste, which is one of their desirable attributes. The seasoned vinegar may be added by one of the following methods: A. Heat the material just to the boiling point in the seasoned vine- gar. This method should be used Avhen the material is in large pieces. B. Heat the seasoned vinegar and pour over the material. Drain off and reheat if necessary. C. Finely chopped materials may be covered w'ith cold, seasoned vinegar. Xo heating is necessary if the excess water has been suffi- ciently removed. USE AND pr?:paration" of food. 185 D. Fruits may be treated as in (A) or (B). If niiicli water is pres- ent, some cooking" may be necessary for evaporation.