I think it is a very exciting time for anyone interested in food. When I grew up in the rural Northwoods, we didn’t seem to have access to the world of flavors that others may have. By in large, our limited population was mostly Scandinavian and American Indian, my own personal experience broadened slightly by my Polish, German, and Mexican heritage. During the summer when I was 11, my family had an exchange student from Japan stay with us. Her suitcase was packed not only with meticulously folded clothes, but with seaweeds and other foreign foods for us to try, unusual things including medicines written on papers that dissolved in water. The cultural world I knew suddenly seemed very different, though I didn’t give much thought of the difference in our diets until years later.
Now that some years have passed, I’m not sure that it was entirely my location’s fault that my senses were deprived of more diverse, world cuisines. Food trends definitely seem to have changed. The explosion of food and cooking television programs, cooking magazines and their online counterparts, food blogs, and booming specialty cookbook scenes ha ve made ethnic cooking tremendously accessible to many people, regardless of local. With spices and ingredients you can find in nearly every market, now you can easily have a diverse world cuisine at your fingertips.
Most world cultures have some sort of pickle they identify with. In North America, we usually take pickles to mean something with a cucumber base, but a little investigating will turn up numerous pickled cabbages and turnips throughout Asia and the Middle East, pickled herring and salmon in Scandinavia, and almost any type of garden vegetable in Eastern Europe, Greece and Russia.
Just a few years ago in the U.S., you could hardly find a homemade pickle to save your soul, but suddenly, and happily, pickles have kind of become ubiquitous with the DIY food movement. Many restaurants now boast “house made” pickles, and due to their safe and easy preservation in water bath canning, many people who have never canned before have taken up a new and rewarding hobby. I do enjoy canning pickles, but this year, I opted for some more traditional style crock pickles for longer term storage in the fridge… and I have tried a few truly remarkable quick pickles that are meant to be eaten within a shorter period of time.
This quick carrot pickle is one that takes just 20 minutes to make, and you might make it last it’s full 2 week shelf life in the fridge if you don’t eat them all straight away. And even if you live in a deeply rural part of our state, you can enjoy a little taste of India.
You can make this pickle blazing hot, very mild, or anywhere in between, and remember that you can leave the seeds in the peppers for additional heat. I used one cayenne and one jalapeno for a relatively mild version, but use any type of chile you can get your hands on for varying flavors and heats. I love things that contain turmeric – it seems to be underused spice in American cooking, and it also has many health benefits. It boasts a gorgeous, indescribable shade of deep yellow, one that really feels foreign as you use it. Gorgeousness aside, it does also complement the carrot well.
Quick Carrot Pickle (Adapted slightly from Savoring India by Julie Sahni via Tigress)
Yields about 1 quart jar
1 lb. carrots, cut into thick julienne
1 ½ T. yellow mustard seed, crushed coarsely in pestle or spice mill
1 cayenne pepper, stemmed and cut into strips lengthwise
1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed and cut into strips lengthwise
1/2 t. turmeric 2 pinches salt, to taste
1 T. sugar (I used raw sugar)
3 T. grapeseed oil (or other flavorless oil)
2 T. lemon juice
2 large cloves garlic, sliced
Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add turmeric and mustard seeds and let them sizzle and pop for several seconds. Add the sliced garlic, and reduce heat a little to ensure it doesn’t turn brown. Let it cook a minute or two until translucent.
Add chiles and toss well over the heat for 1 minute, then add the carrots – they should remain crunchy, so do not overcook, but toss them well over the heat for 1-2 minutes.
Turn down heat and add the salt, sugar, and lemon juice. Toss well to dissolve and mix. Turn carrot mixture out into a bowl to cool to room temperature.
After they cool, transfer to a clean storage jar, and store in in the refrigerator. Enjoy within 2 weeks.
As I pulled my first ever small crop of fat carrots from my tiny, backyard garden last week, I knew the carrot pickle would be a suitably autumnal accomplishment for them. Like so many root crops, carrots smell like the earth, and pulling them at the end of the season is so bittersweet. As the days grow shorter and the crisp feel to the air continues to deepen, why not search for a few ways to drag out the season for just a while longer? I have a few more carrots to pull, and I’ll be making another jar or two of these earthy, hot pickles. My next batches will be hotter, since I have the hereditary “hot tooth”, and who knows… I think the same spice combination would be pretty wonderful on beets, too. Maybe, just the thing for the very meager beet crop also needing to be harvested!
