What makes things pickled?

Question

Like Pickled
eggs
olives
corn
prunes
pickles

Answer 1

vinegar and salt, usually...prunes? I don't know about pckled prunes lol

Answer 2

Salting or brining - Saurkraut, eggs, olives are usually soaked in a brine solution.

In the case of saurkraut, the salting also promotes a lactobacillus bacteria to grow which sours (acidifies by producing lactic acid) the cabbage which given time gives saurkraut that sour taste.

Also, you can add vinegar as in cucumber pickles, but you can brine cucumbers to make pickles without vinegar as long as you get the lactobacillus bactera going.

Found on wikipedia -
Pickling, or corning, is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine (a solution of salt in water), to produce lactic acid, or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar (acetic acid). The resulting food is called a pickle.

Answer 3

I've never heard of pickled prunes, but most pickled things are pickled using vinegar and spices.

Answer 4

to soak them in vinegar