Pickles of the World – Global Adventures in Food and Archaeology

“Heaven knows, a civilized life is impossible without salt”–Pliny

I recently realized I am very behind in posting! Work has been very busy, as it usually is in the summer. So, I thought I would do a short post on the history of pickles! This tangy treat dates back thousands of years with early references in Chinese literature circa the 7th century BCE. Over the years, pickles have shown up in history all over the world, from Cleopatra, who used them in her beauty regime, to Aristotle who thought they had healing effects, to Shakespeare who coined the phrase “in a pickle” (to allude to being drunk, not in a difficult situation), to the Bible verse “We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic”, to the Talmud “Salting is like hearing and marinating is like cooking”. I have even touched on pickling with my Poisson Cru, a ceviche-like dish.

Heinz Pickles — *Drawing showing women bottling pickles at the H.J. Heinz Company factory in the 19th century.*

The word pickle comes either from the Dutch word pekel or northern German pókel, meaning salt or brine. This important process helps preserve foods, a critical step in the time before refrigerators. Pickling itself refers to the process of immersing fresh fruits or vegetables (or eggs, meat, fish, anything really) “in an acidic liquid or saltwater brine until they are no longer considered raw or vulnerable to spoilage.” This process gives pickles their unique texture and sour taste.

Many people have reported on the history of pickles, I enjoyed this read and the book “Pickles: A Global History”
by Jan Davison, myself. Check them out! Rather than rehashing what they said, I thought I would focus on how archaeologists “see” pickles and pickling in the archaeological record. What I found was interesting. It appears that the earliest evidence comes from historical texts.

A poem written in China somewhere between the 11th and 7th BCE describes pickling gourds with salt. It states

"In the midst of the fields are the huts;
Along the boundaries and balks are gourds. 
He dries them, pickles them, 
And offers them to his great forefathers."

In fact, pickles and pickling appear commonly in Chinese history. Qin Shi Huang, when conscripting the Great Wall (3rd century BCE), feed those “working” (aka forced labor) on the wall fermented vegetables.

Another one of the earliest written references to pickling comes from Mesopotamia Babylonian Tablets. One such text, written between 668- to 626 BCE, references pickled meats and pickling an abnormal piglet born with eight feet and two tails.

Evidence for early pickles and pickling is not limited to historic texts, however. An excavation in Egypt at the Roman temple of Shanhûr (near Luxor) recovered a large number of small fishes bones thought to have been pickled. At the nearby site of Kerma, also in Egypt, archaeologists also recovered large numbers of small fish bones, this time found in jars. Apparently, Egyptians had a fondness for pickling fish, something that is still common today (such as the dish Fesikh).

Photograph of the fish bones from the excvarions at Roman temple of Shanhûr (Figure 2)

What can we take away? Presveration of food has been incredibly important throughout history. In fact, everywhere in the world has some form of pickling. And we have pickled pretty much everything, from pig fetuses, to fish, to cucumbers.

I hope you enjoyed reading! Please leave a comment, like, and subscribe! And check out my quick pickle recipe below.