Back in November I picked the rest of my tomatoes and attempted to pickle them. Turns out I kind of screwed it up. For anyone who decides to try pickling at home, don’t mess around with the ingredients. As I learned from some nice people at the GardenWeb forums, when you’re pickling, as a rule of thumb you should use at least one part vinegar to one part water. I used two parts water and one part vinegar because a recipe I found online told me to. I also added some onions and garlic and because the recipe said I could add whatever I wanted. As I’ve learned since then, it might not have been safe to do that. Oops. (Next time I’ll be using one of the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s approved recipes.)
Fearing I may have messed up my pickles beyond repair by altering the recipe, I put them in the fridge to be on the safe side. And there they sat. I’m not ashamed to admit it… I was afraid to eat them. But today, nearly a month later, I took the plunge.
The jar I opened had a nice tight seal on it—so tight I had to get Geoff’s help opening it. That’s a good sign. And the pickles weren’t bad. I ate five or six of them. A little soft, a little vinegary, but not gross. And four hours later, I haven’t dropped dead or doubled over with shooting abdominal pains, which I hope means they were safe to eat.
All in all, in spite of the mistakes, it was a decent experiment. Now I just have to eat my way through three pints of pickles before they do get gross…
Emily is a freelance writer, miniaturist, and adventure game enthusiast.
What does a pickled tomato taste like? I’ve never heard of someone pickling them before.
It tastes sort of like a pickled cucumber, I guess, thanks to the vinegar and dill. But squishier, not as firm. I’ll eat another one and try to describe it in better detail.
When I was looking online for recipes I read a comment about using them in martinis instead of olives…
Either those are little tomatoes or you use industrial sized martini glasses …