Discover the Best Pickling Classes in NYC
Pickling is, simply, a process for preserving foods using acids. For more than 4000 years, societies have used vinegars and brines to preserve foods, producing foods with a distinct tang that bear specific cultural flair. Be it German sauerkraut, Korean Kimchi, the pickled pork of a Louisiana Kitchen, or pickled herring from Norway, many cultures across the world have produced national dishes that rely on the process of pickling.
Pickling can be performed in one of two ways. The simplest pickle is created through a vinegar immersion, whereby food is covered in a solution of vinegar and water and left to soak. A more time-intensive method involves anaerobic fermentation of the food in brine, whereby bacteria produce lactic acid to produce the necessary acidity to preserve the food.
In both cases, pickling is dependent on the presence of acid. A solution with an acidic pH preserves food by inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria like clostridium botulinum, known for causing botulism. Simultaneously, the acidity promotes the production of beneficial bacteria like lactobacillus, which is known to provide the distinctive tart flavor that we associate with pickles, and may even have positive health benefits when introduced to the gut biome.
Why You Should Learn Pickling in NYC
New York City is famous for a lot of different foods. New York slices. Jewish bagels. Manhattan clam chowder. The list goes on. And yet, as long as the list is, some may be somewhat surprised to find pickles represented among the inventory of famous New York foods. In fact, Essex Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan used to bear the sobriquet of “Pickle Alley” in the early Twentieth Century. The history of the New York pickle begins with the original Dutch settlers growing cucumbers in Brooklyn, then brining and preserving them to sell at market. Essex Street was a prime location for Jewish and Italian street food carts, and pickles became a go-to cheap street food, resulting in a briny street worthy of the name Pickle Alley.
Tap into this bit of local New York history by learning to make your own pickles. While pickling is a useful technique for the preservation of foods, it is equally important for the distinct flavor that it adds, and can be the defining feature of many cuisines. While you may not hock pickles in Pickle Alley, learning to pickle your own food can help to make your own sauerkraut that can either be eaten on New Year’s Day to bring luck or loaded onto a hot dog to make your own New York style dogs.
In-Person Pickling Classes & Schools in NYC
With New York’s prodigious pickling history, it should come as no surprise that the city boasts a robust assortment of in-person course offerings designed for anyone to pick up pickling techniques. You don’t have to visit Manhattan’s “Pickle Alley” to find quality classes; organizations across the city can help you get the hands-on training you need.
If you do find yourself in Manhattan, a stroll to SoHo can put you in touch with Home Cooking New York, a cooking school that offers an array of intimate, hands-on classes. Each class at Home Cooking New York is designed to help both complete beginners and novice home chefs take their cooking to the next level, pairing demonstration-style teaching with a workshop of hands-on practice. This pedagogical approach, paired with a maximum class size of ten students, ensures that learners of all stages receive the attention and personalized guidance they need to elevate their cooking game.
Pickled vegetables don’t have to sit on the shelf for months on end before you can use them. By “quick pickling” veggies, you can add a sour, salty tang to any recipe in a matter of minutes. Learn techniques to enhance the flavors of your vegetables as part of a comprehensive course on How To Cook Vegetables (Properly), a hands-on workshop from Home Cooking New York. Rather than steaming all the flavor and texture out of your vegetables, this class will teach techniques for pickling, blanching, and roasting so that you can learn how to cook in a way that you’ll enjoy every mouthful of what you make.
Cross the river into Brooklyn where The Brooklyn Kitchen conducts classes at their kitchen studio in Sunset Park. The Brooklyn Kitchen is a radical cooking school that operates according to a “continuous kitchen” philosophy. Essentially, their classes promote the practice of cooking on a routine basis; rather than taking on a massive single meal for a special occasion, cooking should be done a little bit at a time, all the time. With this manageable philosophy driving their hands-on classes, The Brooklyn Kitchen helps novice chefs and absolute beginner chefs alike redefine their notion of what home cooking entails.
Banish botulism with fabulous fermentation at Brooklyn Kitchen’s Pickle Party. This class features hands-on practice in both general methods of pickling, i.e. vinegar pickling and fermentation. Learn to make delicious pickled radishes and spiced apple butter, and ferment your very own sauerkraut that’s sure to bring a year of good luck after a New York New Year’s celebration.
If you’re looking for a broader cooking class that uses pickling techniques in service of a specific recipe, consider shifting your focus from pickling classes to one of the many cooking classes listed on CourseHorse. While these cooking classes devoted to particular recipes or world cuisines aren’t devoted entirely to pickling and preservation, they often include pickling techniques as part of a more comprehensive cooking experience.
In addition to the aforementioned Pickle Party, The Brooklyn Kitchen also offers a course centered around the preparation of Bao, a type of steamed bun. Though often compared to Asian-style dumplings, bao typically aren’t completely sealed in the way that dumplings are. Among the necessary techniques for preparing bao is quick pickling, so this class devotes attention to pickling techniques in addition to other skills like dough preparation that are necessary to prepare a tasty bao filled with seasonal pickled vegetables and miso chicken or pork belly.
Another incredible organization for comprehensive cooking experiences is New York’s own League of Kitchens. Each League of Kitchens course is run by an immigrant woman who invites you into her own home to share family recipes and an atmosphere of companionship.
Pickles feature in the all-vegetarian offerings of Indian Cooking w/ Yamini, which features an extensive menu of Indian cuisine including khichadi (lentils and rice), lili bhaji (a side dish of mixed greens), masala chaas (a spiced yogurt drink), and sabudana kheer (a dessert of tapioca pearls). Pickles, an oft-forgotten yet integral part of Indian cuisine, are found in a sweet lemon pickle called nimboo ka mitha achaar, a type of pickled lemon flavored with fenugreek, coriander, cumin, chiles powder, and jaggery. The combination of flavors produces a delightful tang that is sweet, sour, and spicy all at once.
Virtual Pickling Classes & Schools
While New York City has plenty of options for in-person pickling classes, these options are supplemented by a host of online pickling classes that provide aspiring pickle makers with more flexible options to best accommodate their personalized needs.
Both in-person and online classes are defined by the direct, real-time access to an experienced instructor who can provide personalized guidance. When it comes to online classes, the main additional benefits come from flexibility. By choosing to enroll in a virtual class, you will benefit from a greater variety of classes from which you can choose and from the ability to participate from the comfort of your own home without needing to devote time to a commute.
This increased flexibility is not without some associated downsides, however. The most notable drawback is the absence of pre-provided ingredients and materials and the lack of a dedicated workspace. Your instructor will provide a shopping list, but each participant is responsible for purchasing those necessary materials ahead of time. Moreover, while in-person classes are held in kitchens well-suited to pickling, online classes require students to work in their own kitchens, which means setting up a workspace for pickling and participating through the video call.
Chicago natives may have some questionable food opinions, but if you can put aside some inter-city food conflicts for a moment, consider checking out Chicago’s premier recreational cooking school, The Chopping Block, for virtual classes in pickling methods. The Chopping Block’s hands-on classes emphasize practicing technique rather than mindlessly following a recipe, making them a great option for picking up valuable culinary skills from an online format.
With the start of the peach season upon us, The Chopping Block prepares to get the most out of the summer fruit with a virtual workshop on Sweet and Savory Peach, a class that teaches multiple methods for incorporating peaches into culinary creations. Among the unconventional uses for peaches includes the option to pickle them; a quick pickle can provide a tangy twist to the sweet summer fruit, making a great centerpiece for a savory salad of arugula and basil. Because The Chopping Block’s approach emphasizes building technical proficiency in cooking techniques, pickling techniques feature as a core component of what is covered in this cooking class.
While this class may be focused primarily on peaches, The Chopping Block’s rotating list of courses often includes more pickle-prominent options. In the past, they have conducted classes that focus more specifically on techniques for pickling and/or preserving foods, such as Refrigerator Jams, Jellies & Pickles. This class covered the methods for a quick pickle during class time, and also included instructions for water bath canning at home. If this sort of class sounds more engaging, be sure to keep an eye on The Chopping Block’s upcoming online offerings.
Private Group Pickling Classes in NYC
Any New York resident is bound to know a thing or two about strong food opinions. A strong opinion often lays the groundwork for an argument, like, say, the argument about the superiority of New York style to that of another city like Chicago. But the same quality that makes food opinions a site for combat also makes them a site for potential connection. Some of the most intimate connections can be formed in the kitchen and at the table, where food becomes a way to show appreciation and to bond over strong opinions. To help facilitate the type of bond that shared food preparation and consumption can facilitate, CourseHorse offers pickling classes for private groups to serve as a site for group bonding.
Making and displaying pickles as part of a larger party display forms the backbone of CourseHorse’s Virtual Charcuterie Board Party. While just about anybody can throw some meats and cheeses onto a serving platter, a more opinionated fellow knows that a mere selection of food does not a charcuterie board make. In this class, learn how to make pickles the right way and display them the right way, alongside a delicious mostarda and a salami rose in a satisfying spread. The course provides a recipe list for proper pickles, including vinegar and spices like black peppercorns and bay leaves, and devotes class time to learning how to bring those flavors together into a tasty pickle. Be advised, however, that this course is not an all-inclusive one, meaning these materials are not shipped; participants will need to go grocery shopping with this ingredient list in hand.
CourseHorse is also capable of providing tailored classes to cater to more specific interests in pickling. If the listed options like charcuterie don’t quite match up with your needs, you can contact CourseHorse to learn about additional customized options for pickling classes, and they will get to work scheduling the perfect event for your group.
After booking a reservation on CourseHorse, you will receive a confirmation within 24 hours. Your event provider will also reach out directly with a personal introduction and additional details about the event. If you need to change your group size after you’ve booked a course, CourseHorse makes it easy to change your headcount after the fact. The cost of the class will depend on the size of the group, but you won’t need to finalize payment until you’ve finalized your headcount. This virtual class is hosted over Zoom, but CourseHorse can accommodate other platforms like Microsoft Teams or Google Meets for your convenience.