Pickling and quick ferments for the table: crunch, tang and no canner required

A small bowl of something sharp and crunchy does a lot for a table. It cuts through rich food, gives guests something to pick at while the main dish finishes, and costs very little. Quick pickles take about fifteen minutes of work. A simple ferment takes a few days of patience. Neither needs special equipment beyond clean jars.

Quick pickles: the refrigerator method

Quick pickles are vegetables in a hot, seasoned vinegar brine, kept in the fridge. They are not canned or shelf-stable, so treat them like fresh food.

A basic brine for one 500 mL jar:

• 125 mL (1/2 cup) white or apple cider vinegar
• 125 mL (1/2 cup) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon fine salt (pickling or kosher salt if you have it)

Warm everything in a small pot until the sugar and salt dissolve. You do not need to boil it for long.

1. Slice vegetables thinly: red onion, cucumber, carrot, radishes, green beans or cauliflower florets all work.
2. Pack them into a clean jar with flavourings such as a smashed garlic clove, a few peppercorns, a pinch of mustard seed, a sprig of dill or a slice of chili.
3. Pour the warm brine over the top until the vegetables are covered.
4. Let the jar cool on the counter, then lid it and refrigerate.

Thin red onion is ready in about 30 minutes. Cucumber and radish are good after a few hours and best the next day. Carrots and beans like 24 hours. Most refrigerator pickles taste best within a week or two, and the texture slowly softens after that.

A first ferment: salted cabbage

Fermenting is different. Instead of vinegar, you use salt to encourage naturally present bacteria that make the cabbage sour. The simplest version is sauerkraut.

You need cabbage, fine salt without additives, a clean jar and a clean weight, such as a small zip bag filled with brine.

1. Shred 1 kg of cabbage finely. Discard any damaged outer leaves.
2. Weigh the cabbage and add salt at about 2 percent of its weight, which is roughly 20 g (a bit over 3 teaspoons of fine salt) for 1 kg.
3. Massage the cabbage with your hands for five to ten minutes, until it softens and releases liquid.
4. Pack it tightly into the jar, pressing down so the liquid rises above the cabbage.
5. Keep the cabbage under the liquid with the weight. Leave room at the top of the jar.
6. Cover loosely so gas can escape, and keep the jar at cool room temperature, out of direct sun.

Taste after three or four days with a clean fork. Many people enjoy it somewhere between one and two weeks, when it is pleasantly sour. When it tastes right to you, move it to the fridge, where it keeps for a good while and the flavour slows down.

Using them at the table

• Serve pickled red onion with tacos, roasted meats, grain bowls and cheese boards.
• Put a small dish of sauerkraut beside sausages, potatoes or a hearty stew.
• Offer two or three textures on a board: something sharp, something sweet and something crunchy.
• Use leftover brine from a quick pickle in salad dressing, or to thin a yoghurt sauce.

What can go wrong

• Floating vegetables. Anything exposed to air can spoil. Keep ferments pushed under the brine.
• Cloudy brine. In a ferment, some cloudiness is normal. In a vinegar pickle it often comes from additives in the salt, and is mostly cosmetic.
• White film on top. A flat, powdery white layer can be harmless yeast, but fuzzy, raised or coloured mould (green, black, pink) means the batch goes in the bin.
• Bad smell. Fermenting cabbage smells sour and a little funky. If it smells rotten or putrid, discard it.
• Soft, mushy pickles. Usually the vegetables were old or the jar sat too warm. Start with firm, fresh produce.
• Too salty or too flat. Measure salt by weight where you can, and adjust the next batch.

Wash jars and lids well in hot soapy water and rinse them before you start. Metal lids can corrode on contact with brine, so line them with parchment or use plastic lids. Anyone who is pregnant, immunocompromised or on a salt-restricted diet should check with their doctor before eating ferments.

A short pantry list

Keep a few jars, a box of fine salt, two kinds of vinegar and a handful of whole spices. With that, a forgotten cucumber or half a cabbage becomes something people ask about. For more everyday techniques, browse our home cooking section, and for ideas on building a table around sharp little sides, see dinner parties.

This article offers general food-safety information, not medical advice. If you have concerns about a particular food or health condition, speak to your doctor or a registered dietitian.