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What about pickled food?


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#1 Mind

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Posted 03 January 2006 - 11:08 PM


I was just thinking the other day about how I like to eat pickled herring. It goes on sale around the holidays so I usually buy some. The benefit of pickling to preserve food, is that it is not cooked. It is raw (the fish anyway). All that is in pickled fish is sugar, salt, and vinegar (and a few other spices, maybe a little white wine). Anyway, unless the vinegar ruins the nutritional content of the fish, I would say it is a good way to preserve raw fish. Of course the sugar is bad for you, but you could always reduce the amount that the recipe calls for.

Does anyone know how pickling affects the nutritional content of food?

#2 bgwowk

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Posted 04 January 2006 - 12:29 AM

The worst thing is probably the salt, but if your blood pressure is good, I don't know any other reason to avoid salt. The vinegar is probably good for you. Acidic food causes the stomach to empty more slowly, reducing the effective glycemic index of food. Studies have shown that a couple tablespoons of vinegar immediately before a meal reduces blood sugar in prediabetics.

Apparently you should drink acidic water for health, not "alkaline water". :)

---BrianW

#3 Pablo M

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Posted 04 January 2006 - 03:10 AM

I am a big fan of sauerkraut. So tasty and delicious. Mmm... sauerkraut. There's a locally made brand of un-pasteurized stuff that I just love. The lactobacillus is good for the ol' digestive tract.

I have also read that about the GI-dampening effect of vinegar. Apparently it also reduces heartburn. Apple cider vinegar is a favorite of mine in salad dressings.

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#4 Matt

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Posted 04 January 2006 - 07:24 AM

I always buy Balsamic Vinegar... which costs me like £20 for a small bottle =/

#5 DukeNukem

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Posted 05 January 2006 - 09:09 PM

Matt, the problem with most balsamic vinegars is they are not the real thing, and the manufacturers add a lot of sugar to them. But vinegar is definitely a anti-aging condiment, and is great for lowering the insulin effect of meals, if consumed (like on a dinner salad) before the main courses.

#6 Pablo M

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Posted 09 January 2006 - 01:49 AM

Matt, the problem with most balsamic vinegars is they are not the real thing, and the manufacturers add a lot of sugar to them.

Where did you read this? Wouldn't the manufacturers have to disclose this fact?

#7 Paul Idol

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Posted 12 January 2006 - 03:48 PM

Pickled foods generally started out as ferments. Vinegar was adopted later as a shortcut, and all else being equal simply isn't nearly as beneficial as a good probiotic lactofermented pickle such as kimchee.

#8 Mind

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Posted 12 January 2006 - 10:23 PM

probiotic lactofermented pickle


Could you explain in more detail why this is better than vinegar. I am unfamiliar with the term. Also, can fish be "lactofermented"?

#9 Paul Idol

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Posted 13 January 2006 - 09:08 PM

Could you explain in more detail why this is better than vinegar. I am unfamiliar with the term. Also, can fish be "lactofermented"?


Lactofermented means fermented with lactic acid-forming bacteria. Traditional pickles (actual cucumber pickles, I mean) were made this way, for example, and you can still find fermented pickles here and there. Bubbies sells them, for example, though I don't remember offhand whether they're pasteurized, which would eliminate any probiotic benefit. Korea's traditional fermented condiment, kimchee, is made with napa cabbage and all sorts of other ingredients, including seafood, often enough. Salt shrimp is one traditional ingredient. And I've made pickled salmon and pickled herring by fermentation on many occasions.

The only commonly available lactofermented food is yoghurt, but there are plenty of other dairy ferments, including kefir, and there's pretty much no end to the options if you want to experiment. I've bought and made all sorts of fermented vegetables, and many traditional sausages like salami were originally lactofermented too — that's where they got their tart taste.

Vinegar, though not bad per se, is sort of an empty calorie source by comparison, and of course vinegar pickles have no probiotic effect, whereas lactofermented foods are probiotic by definition.

Hope this helps.

#10 brandonreinhart

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Posted 30 January 2006 - 11:50 PM

Where did you read this? Wouldn't the manufacturers have to disclose this fact?


This is a fairly well known fact among cooking enthusiasts. "Real" balsamic vinegar is aged in wood. The real stuff costs about $400 for a tiny little bottle. The stuff you get in the store is not aged and is usually modified to attempt to match the flavor of wood aged real balsamic. That being said, no one pickles with balsamic vinegar! You generally want to pickle with a rice wine vinegar or a white wine vinegar (Edit: use apple cider vinegar, not white wine vinegar).

The flavor of a pickle is largely derived from the aromatics and seasonings added to the brine (well, as well as whatever you're pickling and you can pickle just bout anything). There is a _great_ episode of Good Eats that describes the home pickling process in detail. You can find the episode on DVD at foodnetwork.com.

You do not want to slow ferment pickles yourself at home, unless you really know what you're doing. Not only do you have to be absolutely certain the acid balance is perfect (to completely kill off the bacteria), but your house is going to smell like a pickelized copper pot still for the several months it takes to complete the transformation process. A better approach is through refridgerated infusion, which is the most common modern home pickling method. It takes a couple weeks to make pickles this way.

http://en.wikipedia....alsamic_Vinegar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickling

http://www.ilovepickles.org/

Pickles have a lot of salt and some have a lot of sugar. At the same time, they're low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Eat them! Just don't eat them every day, you know?

Sweet! I found a transcript of that Good Eats episode. Should help answer your pickles questions:

http://www.goodeatsf...eTranscript.htm

#11 goku

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Posted 15 February 2006 - 09:42 AM

any dangers of pickles / pickled food. I'm almost certain I've read somewhere that there are detrimental aspects at hand.




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