Riddle me this internet...
Strange questions often come up in this house and we tend to struggle and guess at the answer for some time until one of us says "Just look it up!" If it weren't for the world wide web, we'd be left scratching our head for days. I've decided it might be interesting to share some of these questions when they arise.
Lately my question has been "Are pickles good for you?" No one has been able to give me a straight answer. I've heard twice "Well they come from cucumbers." One person said maybe the pickling process gets rid of the nutrients.
Well it was hard to find the answer to this one. My first search, "are pickles good for you" came up empty handed. My second search "do pickles have nutrients" came up with a little something. I found a site about making your kids eat veggies. It said that cucumbers don't start off very nutritious in the first place. I didn't like that answer so I continued on.
My search "pickles nutritious" came up with something far more interesting. "Fascinating Pickle Facts".
"Pickles played an important role in Columbus's discovery of America in 1492. Around the time of Colombus, many transoceanic voyages were thwarted because crews suffered from scurvy, a disease caused by lack of vitamin C. Colombus?s ship stocker, a man named Amerigo Vespucci, stored ample quantities of vitamin C-rich pickles on the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria, helping to prevent scurvy outbreaks on the historic voyage across the Atlantic. As it turns out, America?s name is derived from the pickle merchant Vespucci, who became an explorer."
It also says in there that often times (but not always), pickled veggies tend to be more nutritious. "During fermentation, bacteria produce vitamins as they digest vegetable matter."
So there you have it folks. Pickles aren't the greatest choice of veggie for you but they can be, depending on the pickling process, and they have a fascinating history. Hooray for the pickle.
You should also know that the pickle or more specifically, the gherkin, plays a big part in our christmas celebration. I used to work in a christmas shop when I learned about this tiny little ornament. The tradition is that the "christmas pickle" is hung last on the tree by the parents on christmas eve. On christmas morning, the kids would search for the gherkin and who ever found it got an extra little gift and gets to start opening the presents first. In our house, we search for the pickle and the person who finds it usually yells "I found the gherkin!" a few times and then hands out presents. It always brings smiles to the morning. Read about the gherkin!
The Christmas Gherkin!
Lately my question has been "Are pickles good for you?" No one has been able to give me a straight answer. I've heard twice "Well they come from cucumbers." One person said maybe the pickling process gets rid of the nutrients.
Well it was hard to find the answer to this one. My first search, "are pickles good for you" came up empty handed. My second search "do pickles have nutrients" came up with a little something. I found a site about making your kids eat veggies. It said that cucumbers don't start off very nutritious in the first place. I didn't like that answer so I continued on.
My search "pickles nutritious" came up with something far more interesting. "Fascinating Pickle Facts".
"Pickles played an important role in Columbus's discovery of America in 1492. Around the time of Colombus, many transoceanic voyages were thwarted because crews suffered from scurvy, a disease caused by lack of vitamin C. Colombus?s ship stocker, a man named Amerigo Vespucci, stored ample quantities of vitamin C-rich pickles on the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria, helping to prevent scurvy outbreaks on the historic voyage across the Atlantic. As it turns out, America?s name is derived from the pickle merchant Vespucci, who became an explorer."
It also says in there that often times (but not always), pickled veggies tend to be more nutritious. "During fermentation, bacteria produce vitamins as they digest vegetable matter."
So there you have it folks. Pickles aren't the greatest choice of veggie for you but they can be, depending on the pickling process, and they have a fascinating history. Hooray for the pickle.
You should also know that the pickle or more specifically, the gherkin, plays a big part in our christmas celebration. I used to work in a christmas shop when I learned about this tiny little ornament. The tradition is that the "christmas pickle" is hung last on the tree by the parents on christmas eve. On christmas morning, the kids would search for the gherkin and who ever found it got an extra little gift and gets to start opening the presents first. In our house, we search for the pickle and the person who finds it usually yells "I found the gherkin!" a few times and then hands out presents. It always brings smiles to the morning. Read about the gherkin!
The Christmas Gherkin!
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