The simple act of preserving through a liquid that is salty, sour or sweet seems, at first glance, not the most fascinating subject. However, I suggest pickling is a skill with national significance; a magical process whereby the bounty of summer and autumn can be held, as if in suspended animation, until they’re needed in the produce-free months of winter.

1. Pickling defines nations

Where would Korea be without its kim chi, the Scandinavians without pickled herrings and the Moroccans without preserved lemons? Also is not sauerkraut another example of preserved cabbage defining a nation? So much so that US soldiers disparagingly called their German counterparts, “krauts”?

And then there’s the fact that sushi – the most Japanese of all dishes – arose as a way of preserving fish on pickled rice. Hence we still use rice vinegar and sugar in sushi rice today.

2. Pickling is all about cucumbers

It is thought that the very first pickles made 4000 years ago were made in India with cucumbers and today they’re still revered in Polish, Jewish, Indonesian and Malaysian kitchens, the difference largely set by the flavouring added to the brine and whether the pickles are sweet, sour or salty. The pickle is simply the perfect foil to your groaningly overloaded Reuben sandwich, while in miniature, as cornichons or gherkin, they lessen the fattiness of many a French terrine or pâté and add crunch and pep to the tartare for an Englishman’s fish.

3. Pickling is healthy

There’s at least one school of thought that will tell you that anything correctly fermented, such as pickles, is good for you. Good for the gut they say. Preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in a brine or vinegar with a pH level that snuffs out most bacteria is a bright idea in itself, but to add aromatics such as garlic, pepper or mustard seeds (which also claim antimicrobial properties) is inspired genius. Visit one of the many pickle shops in Istanbul, Turkey, and you’re bound to be offered a glass of health-preserving pickle juice.

4. Pickling is a survival technique

Salt pork, salt beef and brined fish all played a part in allowing European naval adventurers to explore the far-flung corners of the world, for without that cask of pork or beef sloshing around in its self-made brine these sailors would have starved – or have been forced to live on weevil-ladened biscuits.

5. Pickling is easy (and can be quick, too!)

We love bite and crunch with our food, so it is no surprise that pickling is so hot right now – whether it’s garlic cloves done in the Indian manner or a light pickle of carrot and daikon batons to scatter over your Vietnamese banh mi. I love the slightly sweet mix of  1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1 tbs caster sugar, 1 tsp salt and 10 lightly crushed coriander seeds to pickle as many thin slices of carrot as it will cover.