Pickled cucumber

A pickled cucumber – commonly known as a pickle in the United States and Canada and a gherkin (gərkɪn) in Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand – is a usually small or miniature cucumber that has been pickled in a brine, vinegar, or other solution and left to ferment. The fermentation process is executed either by immersing the cucumbers in an acidic solution or through souring by lacto-fermentation. Pickled cucumbers are often part of mixed pickles. It is often claimed that pickled cucumbers were first developed for workers building the Great Wall of China, though another hypothesis is that they were first made as early as 2030 BC in the Tigris Valley of Mesopotamia, using cucumbers brought originally from India. Pickled cucumbers are highly popular in the United States and are a delicacy in northern and eastern Europe. Pickled cucumbers are flavored differently in different regions of the world. Brined pickles are prepared using the traditional process of natural fermentation in brine, making them grow sour. The salt concentration in the brine can vary between . Vinegar is not needed in the brine of naturally fermented pickled cucumbers. The fermentation process depends on the Lactobacillus bacteria that naturally occur on the skin of a growing cucumber. These may be removed during commercial harvesting and packing processes. Bacteria cultures can be reintroduced to the vegetables by adding already fermented foods such as yogurt or other fermented milk products, pieces of sourdough bread, or pickled vegetables such as sauerkraut. Typically, small cucumbers are placed in a glass or ceramic vessel or a wooden barrel, together with various spices. Among those traditionally used in many recipes are garlic, horseradish, the whole dill stems with umbels and green seeds, white mustard seeds, grape, oak, cherry, blackcurrant and bay laurel leaves, dried allspice fruits, and—most importantly—salt. The container is then filled with cooled, boiled water and kept under a non-airtight cover (often cloth tied on with string or a rubber band) for several weeks, depending on taste and external temperature.