Why I'm Here

Where are you from? is always the first question I get asked after a few minutes of conversation up here in the big city. After 5 years of living in New York my Southern accent is still there, but sadly not as strong as it was. The next question I get is "Why did you move here?" and I always answer (with a slight twang) FOR THE PICKLES!!



Within 48 hours of unloading a rental car full of suitcases packed with what I THOUGHT were warm winter clothes, I hit the streets of New York City on a cold December day and headed straight for Guss' Pickles. Guss' Pickles is one of the last of the pickle vendors on the Lower East Side, an area that had once been the heart of a bustling pickle empire and is now the site of the Annual NYC International Pickle Day Festival held every September.

When you talk about pickles in this town, you're usually talking Kosher. Kosher pickles are fermented in water, salt and garlic, and sometimes a few spices. In the South (and other places) pickles are most commonly fermented in vinegar so the only kosher pickles I ever came across before moving north were in the refrigerated section at Kroger-jars of Claussen brand pickles-and we called them "deli pickles"...they were "exotic" pickles and reserved for fancier occasions... like Super Bowl Sunday or Xmas.

Kosher pickles are what most people in New York think of when you say "pickles" and Guss' is the place most New Yorkers know as "that pickle place". It's stood the test of time and is sacred ground for someone like me. You can walk right up and peek down into barrel after barrel of half sours, full sours, hot cherry peppers (my favorite), olives, stuffed olives, pickled garlic and spicy gherkins (my other favorite). You can buy by the pint, quart or gallon or just get 2 pickles for a dollar and the person working will usually let you sample anything you want. And even if you've never been there, if you've eaten in a New York deli, chances are that plate of pickles on your table is from Guss'. I KNOW...they just bring you a whole plate of pickles!! I love it here!



New York has a special relationship with the pickle. Just the fact that Guss' exists is proof enough for me but our pickle devotion supports other pickle places scattered around Manhattan like The Pickle Guys, Just Pickles and Pickles & Olives and once a year we set aside a day just for pickles and our love for them... and now we have a whole generation of new pickle makers broadening New York's (and beyond's) definition of pickles and lifting the lowly pickle out of the bottom of the barrel and into the specialty shops, like Ricks Picks, Wheelhouse Pickles and of course, my love, McClure's Pickles...and that's why, after 5 years, I'm STILL here...

The pickle empire is gaining new strength...

Hot Rod Pickles

Yesterday I opened a package containing the loveliest jar of pickles I've ever seen. The jar is short, wide and round...rotund would you say? And its mouth and lid nice and wide, a perfect pickle jar for reaching down into...and then there's the label with its black and white portrait of a stern couple and above in beautiful script, "My Grandparent's Pickles". I was thrilled with the jar and its beautiful label, just delighted, so you can imagine how eager I was to OPEN it.

I left the jar in the fridge over night and actually woke up early (can you believe it?) before getting ready for work to open them up and try one. The jar is packed with big cloves of garlic, red peppers and lots of fresh dill which I noticed because I spun it around a few times just admiring it. Then I laid it on its side as I had been instructed and let the vacuum escape. Once it was opened I again admired the girth of the mouth of the jar... I wonder if I could stick my whole face down in there? Then I smelled the dill and reached down and grabbed one and took a bite.

These pickles taste EXACTLY like what they are called-My Grandparents Pickles- or more specifically my grandmother's pickles. Who doesn't think that the best pickles in the world are the the ones their grandmother made? If you didn't grow up with your Mammy makin' pickles like I did then you need to seek out THESE. It may not be very easy as I found these pickles on their website HotRodPickles.com and sent them an email asking how I could get some. The owner, John Perea, emailed me back and broke the news to me that they aren't set up for retail sales, only wholesale. But the GOOD NEWS for you West Coast freaks is that these pickles and their award winning jalapenos have been picked up by 25 Whole Foods stores out west. John was kind enough to send me a jar of pickles and 2 jars of the jalapenos, which won best Pickled Product at last years Fiery Foods Show in Albuquerque, NM but once these are gone, I'm either going to have move West or start campaigning for Whole Foods to also carry them on the East Coast.



John will be at this year's Fiery Foods Show in NM next week and so I want to thank him for taking time out of his crazy busy pickle makin' schedule for me and wish him the best of luck at the show!

Networkin' It

My pickle diligence is its own reward, but it's nice sometimes to get a little recognition! My friend David introduced me through Facebook to Jennifer Biggs who writes and blogs for The Commercial Appeal and today on Whining and Dining she blogged about PICKLE FREAK!

The Commercial Appeal is the daily newspaper in Memphis, TN or, where I'm from, simply "The Paper".

Thanks Jennifer...if you need help with that Hot Mama you know where to find me.

Hot, Sweet & Spicy-Happy Valentine's Day

What's better than a fancy dinner, chocolates and candy or lingerie? Yep...there's THAT and then there's also pickles. As you should know by now, I like things HOT (and fried) so let's get down and dirty and talk about some spicy pickles of my past, present and future.

The PAST:



What you are seeing here is the bottom of a jar of Gundelsheim Hot & Spicy Barrel Pickles after I've had my way with them (note the lack of pickle juice). I got hot 'n heavy and devoured the jar in a couple of days. Gundelsheim pickles come in Regular, Garlic and now, Hot & Spicy (thank god). When I lived in MS I used to drive 30 minutes to the next town just to stock up on the Garlic flavored ones. I've spied this brand in Whole Foods stores and in my neighborhood Fairway but I never really bothered with them because they only carried the regular ones and I thought "well, crap, I could get the Garlic ones in MISSISSIPPI and Whole Foods only has the Regular? Nevermind" but just last week in my grocery store I happened to spot the new Hot & Spicy ones! At $4.99 a jar, they have become my new "everyday pickles" especially since I ravaged this whole jar in about 3 days. You have to get these pickles cold before you eat them so they stiffen up and they aren't that spicy but they do have a unique flavor which I don't really know how to describe besides "German"...On the smaller side they can still keep you satisfied and wanting more.

The PRESENT:

My Friend Jenn recently moved south from Brooklyn to New Orleans and after a recent pilgrimage to Avery Island where they bottle Tabasco, she mailed me a jar of the Tabasco Hot 'N Sweet Pickles. I'd never heard of or seen these before so I was really excited to get them in the mail. My mailman left them on the radiator of our building so I decided a few days in the fridge was necessary before trying them.

I took it slow with Mr. McIlhenny's pickles and really go to know them before going all the way with them. They are more SWEET than HOT and I tried to be gentle...in fact they are so sweet I have finally accepted them for what they are, my pickle friend and not my pickle lover. Sometimes you DO just need more sweet than heat and these pickles, I know, will always be there for me...

The FUTURE:

..but most of the time I want it HOT and heat is what I'm after...a fellow Pickle Freak that divides his time between Ohio and NY (hey Matt!) discovered Safies Hot & Zesty Garden Mix. He swears you will gasp, fall back and wipe your brow after every bite. They look amazing and I can't wait to try them...I'm not crazy about the fact that there are other things pickled in there with them, but if it's hot enough, I can be tricked into eating a carrot and some cauliflower (but it better be HOT!)

So if you don't have a guy or girl (or squirrel) to set your heart on fire, do it yourself and wrap your lips around something that's hot, sweet and spicy!
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!