Mixed Pickle vegetable preparations are a near universal component of any proper Mevhan meal, made with a variety of ingredients either lacto-fermented in a salt water brine, sometimes fortified seawater, or simply preserved and flavoured in vinegar. Many regional variations and flavour profiles exist, as well as vendor and family specialties, with some poems and writings likening the dizzying diversity of pickles and ferments among the modern Mevhan to the fusion and shared cultures of all those who fled the Old World for a second chance in the New.
Fruits are sometimes added likewise, particularly apples in otherwise savoury pickles, olives, or berries for flavouring, but typically ingredients culinarily considered fruit are not part of such a dish, excepting occasionally in a 'fruit pickle' of recent haute cuisine trends, which in actuality is simply a less common regional specialty.
Brine-Fermented
Frequently but far from always based on cabbage in a mixed pickle, brine ferments gain their acidity and sour taste through bacterial development, widely believed to have a variety of beneficial health and digestive effects, some of which have even actually been empirically proven. Fermentation is a slower process to begin, but equally effective for preservation, sometimes preferred for its more complex taste and textures. Preparations of individual vegetables are likewise common, typically cucumbers but often other vegetables or fruits, though are still considered a mixed pickle due to adding garlic, herbs and spices, or simply by association.
Vinegar Pickled
Vinegar pickles, often called quick pickles for their ease of preparation and milder tastes, are sometimes considered easier to mass produce or more suitable for certain products, in texture or taste. Vinegar is cheap, but sometimes valued more when used as a pickling medium, for the additional flavours added by garlic, herbs, spices, and sweeteners like sugarbeet or honey.
