Jananas

Two-ish weeks ago, I made two batches of homemade fill and (very) garlicky pickles. We’ve dutifully waited and so far have been able to resist the temptation to try some. I took a couple of jars out of their cool, dark cupboard yesterday to make sure that everything was still okay. I noticed that some of the cloves of garlic had gone a blue/green colour (see the middle clove in the picture below). I was pretty nervous that everything had gone wrong and that they were ruined. I was really nervous after a couple of friends gave me mini-lectures on the dangers of homemade canned goods or preserves. I was still game to try them, given that I take more a ‘free-range’ parenting approach to my food, but I didn’t want to subject my friends to potentially lethal food stuffs.

I did some research this morning on blue or green garlic in canning. On this website, I came across some scientific research (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Volume 54, Issue 3 (February 08, 2006), p. 843-847, Identification of Two Novel Pigment Precursors and a Reddish-Purple Pigment Involved in the Blue-Green Discoloration of Onion and Garlic, written by Shinsuke Imai, Kaori Akita, Muneaki Tomotake, and Hiroshi Sawada.). The gist is that the garlic goes green/blue because of a reaction between sulfur compounds in the garlic and amino acids. The reaction depends on the age of the garlic (how much sulfur compound it contains) and the type of processing.

In my case, the reaction can be prompted by copper compounds in vinegar or in the iodine found in table salt (which is why most recipes recommend using canning/pickling salt). I used sea salt and while the ingredients didn’t list iodine it is still possible that there was some present. The brine inside is a tad cloudy, again a problem often associated with the use of table salt. While they may not be as aesthetically pleasing, it does nothing to impact how edible they are.

The good news? They are safe to eat! The cans display none of the more typical signs that the food has gone bad – list becoming unsealed, mould on the top of the water, etc. Yay!