Marinade
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The pickle is a method of preserving food in vinegar. This is also the name given to the food obtained by said process. The method for processing a pickled food is within the operations known in the kitchen as marinating, and the technique basically consists of pre-cooking it using a vinegar broth, fried oil, wine, bay leaf and peppercorns. It is the transformation of a preparation of Arab cuisine.
Origins
The word escabeche, according to Joan Corominas' Etymological Dictionary, comes from the Arabic-Persian ﺳكباج sikbâg, "stew with vinegar" which in Persia referred to a meat stew with vinegar and other ingredients that has already been mentioned in The Thousand and One Nights. This culinary technique, almost exclusively with meat, was developed in Arab countries as well as in Persia. The vulgar pronunciation of “sikbâg” sounded like “iskebech”, which became the Catalan word "escabetx". According to Corominas, the direct adaptation of Arab-Persian to Spanish would not contain the sound "ch" but it would be something like "escabej" or "escabeje". Also according to Corominas, the word "escabetx" it passed from Catalan to other European languages and cuisines. This must be differentiated from zirbaja, which is a conventional preparation with a sweet and sour flavor.
In Andalusian gastronomy, al-mujallal was used in the same way as a synonym. In addition to the main ingredient based on a mixture of vinegar, spices and oil, the escabeche frequently incorporates a reddish color. The preparation of marinated meat is mentioned in various Andalusian treatises, such as (escabeyg) in Sent Soví. At the beginning of the XVII century, Martínez Montiño gives very precise indications in his work on how to make marinades. In the same way, Alejandro Dumas describes a pickled hare with little saffron and more paprika. Throughout Spanish culinary history, paprika gradually replaced saffron. Later works on Spanish cuisine show various recipes for making marinades for both fish and meat.
Although widespread throughout the Mediterranean area, it is often noted in international recipe books as a genuinely Spanish food process. The Castilian form “escabeche” appeared written for the first time in 1525, in the "Libro de los Guisados" by Ruperto de Nola, published in Toledo. Said book has a previous edition, Catalan, from 1520, in which it also appeared. Although it seems probable that the first redaction took place in the middle of the fourteenth century. Where "escabeig a peix fregit" would appear. There is also a Catalan manuscript "Flors de les medicines" from the mid-15th century in which there is also a reference to the "escabex", and both the name in Catalan and its description (in three recipes) had already appeared in the Llibre de Sent Soví from 1324.
Other scholars look for a different origin. Let's put "aleche" first, one of the most grateful fish for its conservation in this cold sauce also called "muria" (when the sauce has salt as the main preservative it becomes salt / muria or brine), the Latin prefix "esca", which means food, and we will get esca/milk > marinade.[citation needed]
There are other theories such as that through Arabic it passed to Sicily, "schivecch", and from there to Catalan, however it is documented that the Sicilian comes from the Genoese, "scabeccio", and the latter from Spain, without knowing if from Castilian or Catalan
Scientific basis
The marinade has been made with the primary purpose of preserving the fish by immersion in an acid medium such as wine vinegar. The usual pH in this type of preparation is below 4.5. The acidic medium stops the cells responsible for putrefaction in addition to preventing the synthesis of the compound called trimethylamine, responsible for the fishy smell. It is for this reason that marinades do not have a strong fishy smell. Acidic media stop the putrefaction of other organic tissues such as meat, which is why any culinary preparation that includes a slight immersion in wine vinegar as an acid medium has been called pickle. The addition of paprika, so common in Spanish marinades, is due to its fungicidal properties.
Employment in other gastronomies
Due to the spread of Hispanic culture since the 16th century, thanks to contact with America and the expansion of its influence throughout Asia, escabeche is known and has been adapted to different American and Filipino cuisines.
Argentina and Uruguay
The escabeche is a typical dish used to briefly preserve fish, shellfish and poultry and some vegetables. Some examples are pickled aubergines, pickled onions, pickled chicken, pickled tongue as well as white meat, pickled hare, quail or partridge plus pickled Vizcacha
Bolivia
The escabeche is a typical Bolivian dish, it is prepared from the skin and legs of cooked pig, as well as chicken, usually accompanied with onion, carrot and locoto, mixed in vinegar.
It is also prepared only from vegetables. Locoto, ulupica or abibi (small spicy fruits), onion, carrot and gherkin are placed in a wide-mouthed bottle and vinegar is poured. Let it rest for a few days; then the meals are accompanied at ease. In some regions they place oil in the container and deposit one of the products; in weeks they use droplets in meals.
Chile
In Chile, pickled onion is prepared, a product made from fresh Valencian onion (not fermented) from which its outer (cured) cataphiles have been removed, with the addition of pink vinegar as a packing medium. Whole purplish-white onions, with a characteristic flavor and aroma of fresh onion and vinegar. The combination of pickled gherkins, onions, cauliflower, and sliced carrots is called a picle. In addition, the chili is usually pickled.
Costa Rica
In the Costa Rican case, this is prepared with vegetables which are green beans, carrots, caulifor, sweet chili, onion, tomato sauce, vinegar, to name a few. All the ingredients are cooked in salt water, when they are cold they are chopped into small pieces and white vinegar is added. Let it rest for a day, then add a little tomato sauce. It is normally used to accompany meals.
Cuba
Generally, the marinade is made with fish, preferably saw or saw type, cut into rounds, dipped in flour, fried and then marinated in a mixture of equal parts of oil, preferably olive, and vinegar; sautéed onion, chili pepper, olives stuffed with pepper and optionally capers are added; marinate in the refrigerator for a minimum of one week.
El Salvador
Salvadoran escabeche is characterized by being prepared with white onion, red onion, carrot and green chile (pepper), all cut into julienne strips and then fried so that it is still crunchy and preserved in vinegar with brine. It is used to prepare the famous cheveres (name given to hot dogs in this country).
Philippines
In the Philippines, eskabeche is made of fish (usually lapulapu- a very common fish eaten in the Philippines) and begins as the Spanish know it: immersion of the piece in vinagre (vinegar sugar cane or palm), water, sugar and spices; but then it seems that a culinary fork comes and the Filipinos finish the dish by frying the fish. The Philippine national dish is "adobo", actually a marinade as it is made by simmering chicken and pork meat in a vinegar paste, crushed garlic cloves in a mortar, bay leaf and black peppercorns.
Panama
Pescabeche de pescado is popular among Panamanians. The preferred fish for this recipe is the sierra or corvina. It is a spicy dish that uses habanero, or chombo as it is known in Panama, flour, onion, chili pepper, parsley, garlic, olive oil, white vinegar, tomato sauce, and curry powder.
Peru
Similarly, escabeche is a typical dish of Peruvian gastronomy brought by the Spaniards during the viceroyalty. Escabeche in Peru is made with chicken or fish, particularly corvina or cojinova. It is prepared by macerating the selected meat, previously fried, in a seasoning made with oil, panca chili pepper, escabeche chili pepper (named after this dish), vinegar and onion. It is served cold on lettuce leaves and accompanied by boiled sweet potato, fresh cheese, hard-boiled egg and botija olives.
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