camping foods.
Fermentation and Pickling:
Sauerkraut and Kimchi,
Cucumber Pickles, Olives
Fermentation is one of the oldest and simplest
means of preserving foods. It requires no
particular kind of climate, no cooking, and so
no expenditure of fuel: just a container, which
can be a mere hole in the ground, and perhaps
some salt or seawater. Olives and sauerkraut
— fermented cabbage — are familiar
examples of fermented fruits and vegetables.
An overlapping category is the pickle, a food
preserved by immersion in brine or a strong
acid such as vinegar. Brines often encourage
fermentation, and fermentation generates
preservative acids, so the term “pickle” is
applied to both fermented and unfermented
preparations of cucumbers and other foods.
Less familiar but intriguing relatives of