Divine Angel said:

Michael V said:

Divine Angel said:

Who the dickens puts cucumber on a burger?

Even Maccas does that.

Does the pickling process change the cellular structure of vegetables? 🤔

Anyway Maccas gherkins are gross, but I like the Aldi ones.

No, not really. Maccas green-things are quick-pickled (ie soaked in vinegar +/- salt +/- sugar. Maccas have much extra sugar to hide the sourness). Basically this mix kills any nasties that might be feeding on the veges before they multiply enough to feed on you when you eat the veges.

Traditional pickling involves adding salt -only to the veges. That selectively encourages non-nasty bugs that excrete vinegar to grow and multiply on the veges. The good bugs outcompete the bad bugs (because of salt-induced suppression of bad-bug multiplication). The vinegar produced then protects the veges from the nasties. Those good bugs eat a bit of the outside of the veges, but not so much as to be noticeable. Eventually the solution becomes so acid that all bugs are suppressed. (IIRC at pH 4.1.)

There endeth the lesson in pickling…

;)