1 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:11,560 Speaker 1: Stuff Lauren vogelban here. The word pickle, aside from being 3 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: delightful onto itself, is both a noun and a verb. 4 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: To pickle is to preserve a food in an acidic solution. 5 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: This a makes the food taste more sour and or puckery, 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: and b makes it last longer. You can pickle any 7 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: number of foods, but today we're talking about what probably 8 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: comes to mind first for most Americans when you say pickle. 9 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: A pickled cucumber, be it whole or in spears or slices. 10 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: They're a staple on sandwiches and as a deli side 11 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: or straight out of the jar. We're not judging the 12 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,800 Speaker 1: average American eats about nine pounds of them each year. 13 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: But how did the pickle originate? And perhaps more importantly, 14 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: how did the dill end up being a staple of 15 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: the deli sandwich. Pickled cucumbers have been around for thousands 16 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: of years, eating back as early as two thy four 17 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: hundred BC or so, which is when cucumbers began spreading 18 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: their way across Mesopotamia in order to preserve a crop, 19 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: which if you've ever grown cucumbers, you'll know, tend to 20 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: produce a lot of fruit all at once. People found 21 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: that they could cover the cucumbers in a salt water brine, 22 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,400 Speaker 1: and a few weeks later the cucumbers would be tart 23 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: and wouldn't spoil. Oh, what's going on here is that, 24 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: as we've talked about before on the show, a bacteria 25 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,319 Speaker 1: live in the air and on surfaces all around us, 26 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: and many of them are harmless or even helpful. So 27 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: if you set out a loosely covered container of cucumbers 28 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: in brine, the lactic acid bacteria that live everywhere will 29 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: set up shop in the container. The salt solution draws 30 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,760 Speaker 1: out some of the sugars and the cucumbers. The bacteria 31 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,559 Speaker 1: eat the sugars and poop lactic acid. The lactic acid 32 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 1: infuses the cucumbers, and after a few weeks you've got pickles. 33 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: The acid both makes the pickles tasty and discourages other 34 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: less friendly microbes from growing, and so the pickles don't 35 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: go bad the way that fresh cucumbers would. The English 36 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: term pickle likely originated from Germanic words meaning salt or brine. 37 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 1: Anthropologists think that Cleopatra attributed the nutrients and pickles to 38 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: her beauty, and that they were a favorite food of 39 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: many notable figures throughout history, from Julius Caesar to Napoleon Bonaparte. 40 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,959 Speaker 1: By the age of exploration and colonization, many sailors brought 41 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: pickles on their ships to help prevent scurvy on the 42 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: high seas of The guy behind America's name, Amerigo Vespucci, 43 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: was a pickle salesman and the supplier for a good 44 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: chunk of the ships sailing at the time. During the 45 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: Victorian era in England, pickles were a status symbol for 46 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: the wealthy, as was the pickle caster, which was a 47 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: piece of luxurious serving were used to hold pickled produce 48 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: of pickling cucumbers was common among families of private gardens 49 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: throughout the eighteen hundreds, and pickles were often an essential 50 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: part of daily meals. The popularity of pickle casters grew 51 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: between eighteen sixty and eighteen ninety, resulting in more intricate 52 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:10,399 Speaker 1: designs featuring flowers and gargoyles. Worked in ceramic or glass. 53 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: They were often displayed proudly at the center of the 54 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:17,119 Speaker 1: dining table, but the pickles in those casters were mostly 55 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: pickled at home until one H J. Hines. Yes that 56 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: Hines introduced one of the first commercially produced pickles in 57 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty and hit big at the eighteen ninety three 58 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: World's Fair by giving away tiny pickle shaped pins. This 59 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: was part of a marketing campaign Hines used to introduce 60 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: the company's fifty seven varieties of pickles, preserves, and other 61 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: jarred foods. It's still considered one of the most successful 62 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: marketing campaigns in American history, and you can still get 63 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: a pin through the Hinz History Center or sites like eBay. 64 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: Other big names and pickles came along shortly before and after, 65 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: including Klausen in eighteen seventy, mount Olive Pickles in nineteen 66 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: twenty six, and Lassic in nineteen forty two. But okay, 67 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: why did the dill pickle spear end up being served 68 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: with the deli sandwich? That practice started when Jewish immigrants 69 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: began opening delis in New York City around the nineteen thirties. 70 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: During the harsh winters of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, 71 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: the pickles had played a crucial role in staining Jewish 72 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: communities in Eastern Europe. Eating pickles provided them with vital 73 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: calories and a source of vitamin C. During the heightened 74 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,719 Speaker 1: antisemitism and deadly pogroms of the time, waves of immigrants 75 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:37,280 Speaker 1: fled to the UK and the US, and here many 76 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 1: set up shop In New York, opening businesses like delis. 77 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: Many offered dill pickles as palate cleansers to customers because 78 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: the acidity from the pickle provides a sharp contrast to 79 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: the fatty meats of the sandwiches, they also add nice crunch. 80 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: Once the pickle became a popular side in New York, 81 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 1: it caught on across the US because they're easy and 82 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,599 Speaker 1: inexpensive to prepare and tasty. Today, pickles are so common 83 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: as a side item with sandwiches most restaurants and delies 84 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: don't even list them on the menu. A pickling, of course, 85 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: is not just limited to cucumbers, though you can also 86 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: pickle fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, and eggs, anything you want really. 87 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: A kimchi and sauerkraut are both made using the salt 88 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: brine method, and brining isn't the only method of pickling. 89 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: As a shortcut, you can cover your cucumbers and vinegar 90 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:28,239 Speaker 1: diluted with water instead of a brine. These are sometimes 91 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: called quick pickles or refrigerator pickles. Vinegar is just a 92 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 1: fruit or vegetable juice that's been fermented to produce alcohol 93 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: and then expose to another type of acid producing bacteria 94 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: which eat alcohol and poop acetic acid. So you're just 95 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: buying your bacteria poop ready made when you pickle with vinegar. 96 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:49,919 Speaker 1: And of course you can add all kinds of seasonings 97 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,719 Speaker 1: to your pickles. A deli dill pickles usually involve a 98 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 1: bit of white sugar, mustard seeds, and a hafty dose 99 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: of dried and or fresh dill for a bright herbal pickle. 100 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: Bread and butter pickles often have lots of white sugar, 101 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: plus onions, garlic, celery seed, and something like turmeric to 102 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,559 Speaker 1: give them that yellow tint, yielding a sweet and sour 103 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: pickle with a savory twist. But the possibilities are as 104 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: endless as the pickles possible lifespan. The oldest known pickle 105 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: was first pickled in eighteen seventy six and has been 106 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: passed down from generation to generation. Today's episode is based 107 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: on the article What's the dill? The History of the 108 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,359 Speaker 1: pickle on how stuffworks dot com, written by Murial Vega. 109 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with 110 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 1: how stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler klang A. 111 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: Four more podcasts from my heart Radio. Visit the iHeartRadio app, 112 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.