Picklesmania, the madness of acid cuisine
Fermentations are everywhere in restaurants around the world, including France. No menu today would dare omit gherkins, spring onions or macerated cauliflower.
The return of acidity to the plate led to a boom in vegetables and fruit marinated and preserved in vinegar, which were mainly used by English, Australian and Canadian chefs. Their strong presence in many English recipes is a legacy of the British colonial past in India. This method of preservation has its roots in the south of the sub-continent. The custom is often to mix several fruits and vegetables in sugar, chili, spices, etc. to accompany all kinds of dishes.
Pickled vegetables or fruit were no longer just condiments, but became accompaniments in their own right.
The Scandinavians followed suit, and French chefs such as David Voutain ,Pierre-Sang Boyer , or Philippe Etchebest have also updated the peasant habit of jarring gherkins, cherries, etc. in vinegar. A new generation of chefs is now making the most of pickles, which they prepare themselves, to "condiment" many starters and even main courses. But it's not just the stars of the kitchen. For example, Myrtille, a culinary designer who opened a creative canteen, Pickled, in April 2015 with a Malagasy chef friend , dresses starters and dishes with vinegar pickles (never lacto-fermented) or chutneys. Myrtille, who lived in England for four years, admits she's crazy about them.
On her menu, there are always four pickles, including one of the week, made with organic or sustainable produce. She marinates her pickles in her homemade wine, cider or sherry vinegars, and for some, like eggplant, she adds oil to soften it and give it an Italian edge. No sugar for fennel. "The pickle world is very broad, and the same vegetable can have a different taste depending on the marinade," explains Myrtille, who likes to add coriander, cumin and herbs to her preparations, depending on the note she wants to give her pickle.
At Pickled, you can enjoy Asian-style marinated beef with cucumber pickles, cod with curcuma sauce vierge, vegetable achard with ginger and fennel pickles, or a red vegetable curry with coconut milk, marinated red cabbage and soy pickles (dishes change every month).
Why not fruit?
Born in Sheffield, England, Daniel Morgan, who has worked in London in the restaurants of Pierre Gagnaire and Gordon Ramsay, in India and Japan, and at Noma in Denmark, knows the world of pickles inside out. Chef at Salt, a small restaurant in Paris (11th arrondissement), puts the spotlight on a light, clever cuisine of taste, in which pickles feature prominently. Vegetables are first steamed before being marinated in salt (2%), vinegar, spices and herbs. The chef uses very little sugar, so as not to add too much sweetness. For example, he loves to work with root vegetables in his own way, not the Indian way, so as not to "spoil the product". For example, he has tested a shizo vinegar that gives an interesting fragrance. Daniel Morgan also works with certain fruits such as rhubarb and redcurrants. Pickles? Don't let them go to waste...
Text: Jean-Louis Galène
Photos: @ellsworth.paris via Instagram, Ben Hill and Chiot's Run via VisualHunt.com CC BY-NC
