Pickled Artichokes

A cold-pack pickle of the simplest kind, and the whole thing hinges on knowing which artichoke is meant. Nothing here is difficult, but the original assumes a pickling vocabulary that has largely lapsed.

• Which artichokeNot the globe artichoke. A vegetable whose outer skin comes off by rubbing with a coarse towel is the Jerusalem artichoke (sunchoke), a knobby tuber that was a standard American pickling vegetable in the nineteenth century. Scrub rather than peel, and trim out any soft knuckles.
• "Salt water" strengthThe book gives no proportion. A cup of pickling salt to a gallon of water is a workable modern strength for a day-long soak; the soak firms the tubers and draws out water so the vinegar is not diluted. Rinse and drain well afterward.
• Spiced vinegarThis means vinegar simmered with whole spices and then cooled. One plausible mix for a quart: about a tablespoon each of mustard seed and whole allspice, a teaspoon of black peppercorns, a few cloves, a bay leaf, and a sliced piece of ginger. Cool completely before pouring -- pouring the vinegar cold rather than hot is likely why the tubers stay crisp.
• Vinegar acidityUse a vinegar labelled 5 percent acidity and do not dilute it. Nineteenth-century cider vinegar varied in strength, so the keeping quality of a pickle like this would have been unpredictable.
• Horse-radishA teaspoonful per jar means freshly grated root, not the creamed preparation sold in tubs. Beyond flavour, it was long held to keep pickles from softening and clouding; grate it in at the last moment, as it loses pungency quickly once cut.
• Storage, and what this is notThis is a refrigerator pickle, not a canned one: no jar is heated, sealed, or processed. Keep it cold, submerged in the vinegar, and use it within a month or two. Flavour needs a week to come together.
• YieldAbout 2 lb of trimmed sunchokes fills two pint jars and takes roughly a pint to a pint and a half of spiced vinegar to cover.
• Texture noteSunchokes stay audibly crunchy in vinegar, which is the point of them. They also contain inulin rather than starch, which some people digest poorly; a small first helping is sensible.