Pickles Prove Perfect for Programming

Pickling is an important survival skill, particularly for those living on limited supplies in enclosed spaces. In fact, the word pickle derives from an old Dutch word, ‘pekel’, for ‘brine’; a salty testimonial to the historical importance of pickling to those who lived for many months at sea. When the nutritional role of vegetables in the prevention of scurvy (a common disease amongst mariners) was recognized, pickled vegetables became a staple of thesea-diet. At present, scurvy is fortunately rare amongst New School students. But we can never be too vigilant.

The December- January program of the month, represents an inspired attempt on the part of its organizer, Camryn Mothersbaugh, to teach the residents of the Stuyvesant Park residence hall the art of pickle-making. Camryn’s goal was to teach students cooking skills that they could use in the dorm. She chose to run a class on pickling because, not only would the outcome be delicious, but pickling is an easy skill to acquire, and well-suited to the constraints of the dorm kitchens. Unsurprisingly, given this event’s unique character and the exciting promise that every student would depart “with a jar or two of pickles”, the program was very wellattended.

Camryn elected to follow a recipe for sweet and sour cucumber pickles. She began by demonstrating how to make the spiced vinegar used to preserve the cucumbers, and then let the students fill the jars with the vegetables and vinegar. Camryn says that her favourite part of the program was the student reaction over the following week, as students would approach her to tell her how well their pickles had turned out. Thanks to Camryn’s great program idea, the students at Stuyvesant Park now have the skills to survive long sea voyages, and the supplies with which to do so; something that will no doubt be appreciated even more as midterms approach.

Written by Simone Gubler- Philosophy Major at The New School for Social Research