Category Archives: Polish

>Polish Goldmine

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I cannot resist a grocery store. I will wander the aisles of any grocery store anywhere and the further away it is from being a Wal-Mart or C-Town, the better, but still, I can kill some time in a Wal-Mart (hell, it’s practically a family tradition). It’s rare that I’m actually looking for something specific, it’s more that I’m excited that I will possibly find something weird that I can take home and display on a shelf or EAT and it will cost me no more than $4.99. That is strong bait for a Southerner…

So check out the Polish Pickle Gold Mine I wandered upon in Williamsburg at Topps Grocery store on North 6th street, just off of Bedford. 2 whole shelves full of not just “exotic” products, but PICKLES and oh yes, all for under 5 bucks!

First there was the sign:

I love that they have the Claussen Pickles hidden away in a dusty corner somewhere…

And then there was a huge basket filled with these:

Who doesn’t need a bag o’ pickles? I need a belt that I could use to strap these around my waist like a fanny pack.

There were several varieties by the Lowell Brand: pickles with hot peppers, with sweet peppers or just “cucumbers in brine”. I struggled with a decision for at least 10 minutes, but I ended up taking home a jar of the ones with hot peppers (of course). I’ll save the bag o’ cucumbers in brine for a gift if I’m ever invited to anything, ever again. There were also a few other varieties, like the simple Krakus Brand “Polish Dill Pickles” and some labeled “Pickled Dill Gherkins”.

I opened my jar as soon as I got “home” (I was house-sitting in Bushwick) and I wasn’t thrilled with the results… a little soft and barely spicy. Still, better than most common grocery store items and very similar to the German Gundelsheim pickles I use as my “everyday pickles” but I’m not done with my Polish exploration though, oh no. I think I’ll go back to basics and try the simplest ones and then work my way through the spices. Because it’s only a matter of time before I’m back in there wandering the aisles anyway.

Twitt

>Pickle Soup

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>If you know me, you know I have food issues…I hardly eat a vegetable and I have a whole list of foods that I don’t like for “no good reason” (some might say). For example, I don’t eat bread. Why? BEcause, that’s why. I don’t eat pie, waffles or pancakes either…too bready. I also don’t like “creamy stuff”. Hold the mayo (it’s not gonna be on my hotdog or hamburger bun anyway-just gimme some meat) and do NOT let that coleslaw touch my BBQ. I could go on and on but I won’t.

I’m only trying to confess that I have known about pickle soup for a few years now but, suspecting its creaminess, I sort of dodged it for awhile…

My friend Laurie was living in Chicago and called me up a few years ago practically breathless to tell me about Pickle Soup. She had seen it in a deli, tried it and said she “thought of me with every spicy spoonful”. Until that very moment, I had never heard of nor IMAGINED such a thing as Pickle Soup….yumm…spicy spoonfuls!
Well, I guess I imagined my own version of pickle soup (pickle juice in a bowl? sounds good to me!) because when I googled it two seconds later I saw a list of ingredients that made me shake my head at and think, “nope, not for ME”…

I officially kept my eyes peeled for it in New York but I’ll go ahead and admit it-I never came across it myself because I tend to eat in places that serve tacos or corndogs. My friend Xan is the one who ultimately became my Pickle Soup guide. He actually found it in a couple of places but liked King’s Feast, a Polish restaurant in Greenpoint, on Manhattan Avenue, the best. Not only is the soup a nice consistency he said, but it also has a nice strong, pickle-y taste. We made a date to meet and eat but I continued to drag my feet. The fear of being a pickle freak that didn’t like pickle soup was bearing down on me…

I got the soup, which was officially listed as “Dilled Cucumber Soup” for $2.95. Xan got his usual Old Fashioned Meat. I was still a little hesitant when the soup came out…there were lots of shredded carrots in there but the pickle fragrance was enough to convince me to dig in and ignore the vegetables. I actually liked the potato-ness of the soup and the chunky-ness distracted me from the creamy-ness of the bowl. I took a few bites and felt the pressure leave me…I was still, and continue to be, a Pickle Freak.

I plan on taking Pickle Soup into my own hands and making my own version of it. This way I can control the creaminess, leave out the carrots and create my own “spicy spoonfuls”. I will not, however, attempt to make Old Fashioned Meat at home…I’ll just leave that to Old Fashioned Meat Freak, I mean Xan.

Twitt