The Journey South pt. 2

That's me eating a pickle at a high school football game. Just thought I would share the experience. It brought back a wave of memories for me although this time around I was much more comfortable with myself, 1) because I'm not in high school any more and 2)because I wasn't wearing a high school band uniform.

So, my journey South to New Orleans stalled a bit because I was having too much fun in Oxford, MS and because I was waiting for a ride down to Nola. In the meantime, I had plenty of pickle adventures. Like the night I explored a few "new to me" bars like Snack Bar-the latest venture from Oxford's very own James Beard Award winning chef John Currence. We ordered the pickle plate

and I asked the bartender to make me a pickle martini. I was extremely pleased with the results, even the pickled EGGS.

This was my first pickled egg experience and the texture was firmer than I expected and made it tolerable, but I washed it down right away with my martini which was one of the dirtiest and best pickle martini's I've had in awhile. I don't remember much after that, 'cept it was good and I had fun.

I think it was the next day that I had lunch with my newest friend, PJ. He had a jar of pickles that he picked up while in New Orleans the weekend before that he wanted to give me, so we got together to investigate.

Behold, the pickled Mirliton...and why yes, that is a shot from the front porch of William Faulkner's home!

I'd never heard of a mirliton before, have you? So I looked it up and found that its a squash-like veggie very common in Louisianna. HOW PERFECT IS THAT? A brand new pickled item to usher me to my new home. The jar was ceremonially cracked open at the Mexican place where we had lunch, but later in the afternoon I lolled about at Faulkner's place with my mirlitons and was taken by their photogenic qualities.

I was ALSO taken with the taste. The pickled mirliton is firm, more so when you stick them in the 'fridge for a littlel bit, and juicy. The texture was perfect for a crunchy pickle and these were really sour and spicy. My love affair with the mirliton began...and it continued all the way to New Orleans as I ate the jar in the car.

Me and the mirlitons have finally arrived in New Orleans!

The Journey South pt. 1

I'm a little in between worlds right now-I've officially left Brooklyn and have been drifting South the entire month of September. On the way to Mississippi I made a stop in Asheville, NC and visited the Biltmore Estate-of course they had a Christmas "shoppe" and of course I found these:


Other pickle stops included buying a jar of "Smokey Mountain Baby Dills" from a roadside stand outside of the Cherokee Indian Reservation in Tennessee:

They didn't taste homemade at all and I suspect they are mass produced to appear "homemade" at roadstands just like these all over the region, but still, I needed a pickle on the road and well, they did the job.

I had better luck once I reached Oxford,MS. My first stop was at my friend Laurie's restaurant called Tallulah's Kitchen. She serves a variety of wonderful dishes, but I ordered a container full of FRIED STUFF-her homemade corndog and fried pickles-I've been HOMESICK ok, so just lemme have my fried stuff!

Both were amazing. The pickles were nice and thin, just like I like 'em but they still had a strong pickle-y taste to them. The corndog was simply a religious experience.

Later that same evening, my pilgrimage continued, to the holy places of Oxford, MS; Square Books, Thacker Mountain Radio and of course, my waterin' hole. When I lived in Oxford it was called The Longshot and it was the place I spent a lot of time with a lot of people, but mostly with my friend Jim. We had a table near the Ms. Pac-Man game and the jukebox that could magically be the social center of the universe or the quietest place in town. Now The Longshot is gone and is a sushi place called Two Stick and it was there last week that I made a new pickle freak pal named PJ.

Upon my arrival in Oxford, my friend Laura Beth presented me with a jar of her homemade spicy pickles and I stuffed them in my purse to try later. Several bars and beers later, I made it to The former Longshot with my pals and I whipped out the pickles and passed the jar around. Once PJ explained that his initials really stand for "pickle juice" I went to the bar, grabbed 2 straws and we sucked down an entire quart of pickle juice much to the horror of everyone else in the place.


It feels great to be back.

Keeping Up with The Shamus Jones' of Brooklyn Brine

It's practically a full time job keeping up with Shamus Jones of Brooklyn Brine, but luckily, I don't HAVE a full time job at the moment, so I'm just kickin' back and reporting on how busy he's been.

First, congratulations to Shamus and Brooklyn Brine on their first year of business. There was a party on July 31 to celebrate and it also launched his brand new Whiskey Sour Pickle. I was there for a only a second (it was packed) but I had a pickle and it was great. I'd also had a chance to preview a test batch and those I ate quite a few of and I can seriously say to you-EAT THESE PICKLES!

Then there was Shamus' TV premier when he was featured on Food Crafters-a brand new show hosted by Aida Mollenkamp on the brand new Cooking Channel.


And there's also the fact that Brooklyn Brine's Lavender Asparagus was chosen as a Featured Fall Item in New York Magazine.

Oh and how about this?Cooking Light Magazine, in their October issue, named Brooklyn Brine Fennel Beets as one of their Best Tasting Products in their "Best of The Rest" category.

Crap, I also forgot to mention their write up in a little rag called The Wall Street Journal.

Sooo....if that doesn't make you green with envy you can turn yourself green by entering the Brooklyn Brine Whiskey Sour Pickle Eating Contest that is going to held October 1 at Black Rabbit, a great bar in Greenpoint in Brooklyn. The competition starts at 9 PM and the first person to eat 6 jars of pickles wins $100! This is a competition that requires speed AND endurance and will hopefully become an annual tradition so that I can be there next year to compete and if you loose, well you just ate a ton of Brooklyn Brine's Whiskey Sour Pickles so you still win!