Mexican pickling: red onions, chillies and carrots in vinegar

What is it?

Mexican pickling is a family of preparations where vegetables, fruits and sometimes meats are preserved in a solution of vinegar, salt, herbs and spices, a technique inherited from the Spanish Mediterranean but adapted to the Mexican recipe book with its own ingredients such as habanero chilli, jalapeno chilli, red onions, Yucatec oregano and sour orange. The most emblematic pickles are Yucatec pickled red onion (an obligatory accompaniment to cochinita pibil and panuchos), jalapeno chillies en escabeche (with carrot and cauliflower), pickled guero chillies, cambray onions, chicken or turkey escabeche, and habanero chillies in vinegar. The technique allows food to be preserved for months without refrigeration and provides acidic, spiced and spicy flavours that balance fatty dishes, grilled meats, tortas, tacos and snacks. It is part of the everyday Mexican table, present in markets and restaurants.

Origin and history

Pickling as a preservation technique arrived in Mexico with the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Escabeche, a word of Arab-Andalusian origin 'al-sikbaj' that reached the Iberian peninsula with Muslim rule, was a Mediterranean method of preserving fish or meat in vinegar and spices. Conquistadors and colonists brought it to New Spain and applied it with local ingredients: chillies, native herbs and Mesoamerican vegetables such as cactus paddles and courgettes. According to Larousse Cocina, the Yucatec oriental escabeche (turkey or chicken in vinegar with onion, garlic, white recado) is one of the oldest colonial dishes on the peninsula, a direct Arab-Mediterranean heritage adapted with achiote and xcatik chilli. Mexican escabeche was simplified relative to the European version: it uses more vinegar, less wine, more chilli and more onion. Yucatec pickled red onion is probably the most emblematic pickle: finely sliced red onion, 'scalded' with boiling water (to soften pungency), and pickled in sour orange juice or vinegar with habanero chilli, salt and oregano. Mexico Desconocido documents industrialised jalapeno chillies en escabeche from the mid-20th century (La Costena, Herdez), which took Mexican pickling to international markets.

Characteristic ingredients

Mexican pickling has specific techniques according to the ingredient. For Yucatec pickled red onion: 1) Finely slice red onion. 2) Scald for 30 seconds in boiling water or squeeze with salt to soften. 3) Cover with sour orange juice (or lime mixed with apple cider vinegar), salt, dried Yucatec oregano and sometimes a whole pricked habanero chilli. 4) Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Ready to serve, it keeps for a week refrigerated. For pickled jalapeno chillies: 1) Cut the chillies into slices with or without veins. 2) Cut carrot into slices, cauliflower into florets, onion into slices. 3) Briefly sauté everything with garlic in oil. 4) Add white vinegar, water, salt, pepper, oregano, bay leaf, cumin and thyme. 5) Boil for 5 to 10 minutes. 6) Bottle in sterilised jars with the solution; they keep for months sealed. For pickled guero and manzano chillies: similar to the jalapeno but whole, only pricked with a fork. For meat escabeche (chicken, turkey): the meat is cooked, lightly browned and submerged in vinegar escabeche, scalded onion, garlic, white recado and spices; it can be refrigerated for weeks. The vinegar must have a minimum of 5% acidity to preserve; distilled white is the most common in Mexico, apple cider is used for its milder flavour.

Cultural significance

Mexican pickling is a fundamental part of traditional Mexican cuisine inscribed by UNESCO in 2010 as Intangible Cultural Heritage. Yucatec pickled red onion is an identity element of peninsular cuisine, present on any table where cochinita pibil, panuchos, salbutes, oven-roasted suckling pig or turkey tacos are served. Pickled jalapeno chillies are a Mexican product of mass consumption: every Mexican home and every taqueria has a tin or jar, and the industrial brands La Costena, Herdez, Del Monte and San Marcos export millions of tins a year to the United States, Europe and Asia. Contemporary restaurants such as Pujol, Sud777, Maximo Bistrot and Em Restaurante have revalued artisanal pickles with unusual fruits (mango, jicama, watermelon), regional chillies and artisan vinegars. Mexican markets such as La Merced, San Juan and Sonora sell fresh and artisanal bottled pickles. Yucatec Mayan peoples, the peoples of the Bajio and the peoples of the central altiplano have family pickling traditions passed on for generations. Pickles are also vehicles of cultural migration: in the United States, pickled jalapeno chillies are an immediate reference to Mexican cuisine in bars, taquerias and tortillerias of Latin communities.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between encurtido and escabeche?

They are terms often used interchangeably in Mexico. Technically, escabeche involves cooking the vegetable or meat in the vinegar and spice solution before bottling (hot). Encurtido can be done cold, submerging the raw vegetable in vinegar and leaving it to macerate. In Mexican practice, escabeche is more associated with meats (turkey, fish escabeche) and cooked vegetables (jalapeno chillies), while encurtido is used for red onion and fresh vegetables.

Why is Yucatec red onion scalded first?

For three purposes: 1) To soften the pungency and harshness of raw onion, which would be too intense to accompany delicate dishes. 2) To accelerate the absorption of vinegar or sour orange. 3) To maintain the bright purple colour and crunchy texture without raw flavour. Without scalding, the onion is spicy and indigestible. Some cooks only salt and squeeze it without scalding, also a traditional technique but less mild.

What do pickled jalapeno chillies taste like?

They have a balanced acidic-spicy flavour: acidity from white vinegar with sweet notes from cooked carrot, moderate heat from the jalapeno softened by cooking, and spicy aromas of oregano, bay leaf and cumin. The cauliflower and onion absorb the flavours and become crunchy-acidic. It is the universal Mexican accompaniment for tortas, tacos, refried beans, soups, rice and practically any street or home snack.

Where does Mexican pickling come from?

It is of mestizo origin. The escabeche technique arrived in Mexico with the Spanish in the 16th century, an Arab-Mediterranean heritage (the word 'al-sikbaj'). It was adapted with Mexican ingredients: chillies, native herbs, sour orange and achiote. Yucatec oriental escabeche and pickled red onion are colonial-peninsular creations; pickled jalapeno chillies became industrially popular from the mid-20th century.