The sweet, tangy, spicy, and sour flavors that burst into your mouth build an emotion of rich flavors, complementing almost every dish and cuisine since ancient times; pickles are enjoyed and loved by all.
The originality and use of pickles vary greatly with the countries and the consumers. It is paired with a wide range of dishes like sandwiches, pasta salad, bacon, meat, hot dogs, and much more. Pickle has different names, tastes, and types, and the preparation process in every other country is flattering.
1. What are Pickles
We have a variety of pickles1 to be consumed; all made up of different vegetables and herbs with certain health benefits. We have sweet pickles, dill pickles, pickles relish, and butter pickles, adding flavor to your meal and making it wholesome.
The process of making pickles is known as ‘pickling’ and the result is called a pickle. Pickling is done to extend the shelf life of food using anaerobic fermentation or dunking in vinegar.
2. What Is a Condiment
It is a substance that is used as a side dish to add more flavor and enhance the other food items. Condiments are filled with strong flavors that can be preserved for days without it going bad. Different spices such as garlic, mustard, mustard seeds, salt, sugar, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, pepper, olive, and other vegetables are used in the making.
The use of different sauces imbibed in the preparation of pickles adds flavor. The sauces used are fish sauce, tomato sauce, soy sauce, barbecue sauce, and hot sauce.
3. Are Pickles a Condiment
Hitting the main question here: are pickles a condiment2? The definite answer will always be yes. Pickles are highly served as a side dish along with other dishes because they are filled with nutritional herbs and health benefits. Pickles are one of the preserved foods which can be enjoyed even with weather changes.
They are filled with various spices, sauces, and vegetables, and they never disappoint when it comes to fantastic taste and flavour. In many places of the world, pickles are so loved that they are substituted with famous dips like ketchup, mayonnaise and tomato sauce.
4. Different Types of Pickles as a Condiment
4.1. Sweet Pickle
A sweet pickle relish is a combination of a sweet and sour pickled cucumber prepared with the process of pickling. Pickling happens to vegetables, meats, fish and fruits. Thinly cut cucumbers and sweet onions are used as the main ingredients and other ingredients used are vinegar, salt, sugar and mustard seeds. It can easily be refrigerated in a tight jar for up to 2 months.
4.2. Dill Pickles
This is by far the most famous kind of cucumber pickle; it gets its name from a ‘dill herb’ used in its making. The fresh dill herb is added to either a salt brine or a vinegar brine with other strong flavors like mustard seeds, garlic, sugar, and pepper sauces. It can be refrigerated in an airtight jar and highly compliments other foods like bread, sandwiches, and tacos.
4.3. Butter Pickle
It is also known as ‘Bread and Butter Pickle’. Made by pickling cucumbers, onions, and chili pepper. Ingredients used are soy sauce, mustard, vinegar, turmeric, cinnamon sticks, and cloves. These are enjoyed with hamburgers, plain rice french fries, and even your breakfast eggs.
4.4. Pickle Relish
A relish is a cooked product made with chopped vegetables, herbs, and fruits. Generally, the term relish is used to define a single variety of finely chopped cucumber relish. It is also sometimes made with tomato sauce to add extra flavor. It is served with salads, muffins, and quiches.
5. Pickles are a Condiment
Now that we know we have a wide range of condiments to add in extra flavors to our meals yet, there are still condiments like mayonnaise, butter, and different types of cheese that are not qualified as condiments but are still used to enrich the flavors of a meal with wide changes in taste. These are used in the same manner as any other condiments and provoke a kick of taste.
Choosing a pickle of your choice becomes a little tricky as the varieties offered in the market do not seem to end. All these pickles come with separate taste, texture, quality, spices and much more. Yet this is what makes pickles one of the best condiments, which can never go wrong with any food item and does not disappoint the consumer.
Pickles as a condiment 3add that kick or punch to your food at any part of the day; having pickles will never allow you to have a boring meal. Giving an upper hand, it is filled with health benefits, so consuming pickles can never turn out bad. It is highly enjoyed by people of any age and preference because one can easily change the taste and species of a pickle as per their choice.
With the preparation process being so easy and its shelf life being so flexible you do not have to worry about it going bad, just enjoy it with your food till finished and then make some more!
- Davison, J. (2018). Pickles: A global history. Reaktion Books. ↩︎
- Gopinath, Hima, and Kaliaperumal Karthikeyan. “Turmeric: A condiment, cosmetic and cure.” Indian journal of Dermatology, venereology and leprology 84 (2018): 16. ↩︎
- BRIMELOW, CJB. “19 Sauces, pickles and condiments.” Physico-Chemical Aspects of Food Processing (1995): 387. ↩︎
Last Updated on by Namrata