pickles

[dead0man]

(list and order from wiki)

I love pickles.  Probably my favorite food.  Kosher dill (I like Claussen halves, or regular Vlassic) is tops, but I can also enjoy a Polish or just "brined" if done right.  Bread and Butter pickles are only for heathens.  I've never had any of the others.

[angus]

I like the big dill pickles, although I don't keep kosher so I don't care whether they conform to the halakha.  I like them whole and on the side when served with sandwiches, but I like them finely diced in potato salad and in situations when Italian dressing is used.

(What's a kool-aid pickle?)

[angus]

whoa.  It's a real thing, and it definitely doesn't look Kosher:



There's even a catchy portmanteau to describe it:  koolickle.  

I have a dirty mind, I suppose, because if I had stumbled upon that word it would not have made me think of pickles in Kool Aid.  I have found a NY Times article from 2007 describing it.  (I guess I have been under a rock because I really haven't heard of this culinary delight.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09kool.html?_r=1&

I think we might just try this at home. 

[dead0man]

A "kosher" pickle isn't necessarily Kosher.  It's just the name given to a particular way to make them.

[DavidB.]

I don't like them at all.

[angus]

A "kosher" pickle isn't necessarily Kosher.  It's just the name given to a particular way to make them.

Well that's just weird.  It's like calling California bubbly "champagne" or calling a bit of partially-hydrogenated cottonseed oil with yellow food color "cheese."  Anyway, The pickles with the stork always says kosher dill pickles, and in the commercials the stork always had a slight Newyork Yiddish accent, so I guess I just assumed that kosher meant kosher.

I did a google search and found that apparently lots of people have asked "Rabbi, are kosher pickles really kosher?"  The answers range from "Well, they'd better be, or they'll incur the wrath not only of kosher-certifying organizations but also of various state and federal agencies" to "They're not particularly kosher, though they can be if they're supervised by a Rabbi"  

Rabbi Mark Glickman writes "...mostly, a pickle is kosher because it’s a pickle!  Pickles are vegetables, and vegetables, as we have established, are always kosher.  Except for when they’re not."


We buy our pickles from ALDI, and I think that they just say "dill pickles."  My wife likes the German-style pickles, so we have both types in our house.  My son can go either way.  I'm thinking that the dill pickles will lend themselves better to the Kool Aid experiment.

[DemPGH]

Bread and butter - an absolute ingredient to a salad. Adds flavor and tanginess. I load my salads with veggies, though, including kidney beans. Lettuce is actually just a small part.

[TDAS04]

Dill pickles are delicious.

[Simfan34]

We buy our pickles from ALDI, and I think that they just say "dill pickles."  My wife likes the German-style pickles, so we have both types in our house.  My son can go either way.  I'm thinking that the dill pickles will lend themselves better to the Kool Aid experiment.

Aldi? But you don't live in Germany... right?

[angus]

We buy our pickles from ALDI, and I think that they just say "dill pickles."  My wife likes the German-style pickles, so we have both types in our house.  My son can go either way.  I'm thinking that the dill pickles will lend themselves better to the Kool Aid experiment.

Aldi? But you don't live in Germany... right?

I haven't lived in Germany since the summer of '75.  But I'm not claiming that the German-style pickles are from Germany.  In any US supermarket one can find Texas Chili made in New Jersey, "champagne" from California, and New England Clam Chowder made in Minnesota.  Actually, I'm curious.  Now that I"m home I'll look...

Product of India.  

and the dill pickles (product of the USA) do say KOSHER dill pickles (all caps on the label).

There are also some cornichons, with herbs, in the refrigerator (product of Italy).  I've never noticed them before.  I might just try one.  They're very small.

And of course we have a whole bunch of other pickled vegetables in our refrigerator, most with labels in languages I can't read.  We go to either Viet My or Asia Market at least once a week and my wife generally buys pre-packaged pickled snack vegetables, but I stick to the pickled cucumbers.

[°Leprechaun]

I like dill, but I voted other, because I don't think that I have tried many types. I like sweet pickles. I usually only eat pickles on a burger. I like relish on a hot dog.

[angus]

Cornichon report:  

not bad, acidic, but very slightly sweet as well.  I think I prefer the dill pickle.  

I couldn't find any Kool Aid--I actually didn't think we would have any--but I did find some Tang.  It looks quite old and has hydrated, so I'll have to break off a chunk take a pestle it up a bit before attempting to solvate it with water.  It should give a nice orange hue to the pickle.  I'll use the federation standard dill pickle for this experiment, but I might throw in one of the other varieties as well.  From the NY Times article I read, it needs to steep for about a week so I'll get it started tonight and try to remember to report my findings next week.

[DavidB.]

Aldi? But you don't live in Germany... right?

Aldi operates in many more European countries. (Not that angus lives there, so your point was true, but still.)

[angus]

so your point was true

I guess his point is going over my head.  I did live in Germany for about a year, then 40 years later I lived and worked in Amsterdam for a semester, but I'm still not taking his point.  My German-style pickles are neither from Germany nor anywhere near Germany.  They are from India by way of ALDI.

If you understand his point, then tell us what it is.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

Aldi? But you don't live in Germany... right?

Aldi operates in many more European countries. (Not that angus lives there, so your point was true, but still.)

exists in the u.s. too. owns trader joe's but also has its own stores

[Marokai Backbeat]

Plenty of ALDIs around here. Much loved for their low prices.

[angus]

Plenty of ALDIs around here. Much loved for their low prices.

They're everywhere.  At least two in Lancaster.

Okay, but I still don't understand his point.  I do know that for a long time I thought I was the only one on this forum who shops at ALDI.  Several years ago, opebo used to make fun of me for shopping at ALDI.  A different ALDI.  That was at the one near me when I lived in Iowa.  I live in Pennsylvania now, and have for many years.  But there are ALDI stores everywhere that I've lived.  I usually go to the one nearest me, which is about 3 miles away from my house.

You're right, they have good prices, and they usually look cheap and they're usually located in rough neighborhoods.  Also, it's sort of a bag-your-own store.  In fact, they charge for a bag if you want one.  I think that's why opebo makes fun of it, but I find that they have good food for good prices, so I shop there.  I do look pretty silly bringing out food in my arms, armpits, teeth, and every other orifice that I can use, but many folks actually take a bag in with them.  In fact, that's what my wife does when she goes there.  I think that's why they can be cheap.  It's not lower-quality stuff, it's just that they don't have to pay baggers as well as checkers.  And since they're usually in sketchy neighborhoods, they keep the rent low.

Ah, whatever.  I don't care if their German-style pickles come from India or whether their dill pickles are kosher or even if they don't give a bag.  We're big fans of ALDI.  

Except for their bananas.  I've had consistently bad luck with ALDI bananas.  For bananas I go to the premium supermarket, or to Walmart. 
  

[DemPGH]

Aldi is all around the Pitt area and up and down 79 at every exit, they compete with Wal-Mart (thankfully, someone does ). Great place and they have a lot of organic stuff too.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

anyways i like senfgurken. not sure which of these categories they fall under

[Marokai Backbeat]

You're right, they have good prices, and they usually look cheap and they're usually located in rough neighborhoods.  Also, it's sort of a bag-your-own store.  In fact, they charge for a bag if you want one.  I think that's why opebo makes fun of it, but I find that they have good food for good prices, so I shop there.  I do look pretty silly bringing out food in my arms, armpits, teeth, and every other orifice that I can use, but many folks actually take a bag in with them.  In fact, that's what my wife does when she goes there.  I think that's why they can be cheap.  It's not lower-quality stuff, it's just that they don't have to pay baggers as well as checkers.  And since they're usually in sketchy neighborhoods, they keep the rent low.

Just take whatever empty boxes lay around the store and put your groceries in boxes.

[traininthedistance]

Kosher dill is the best (not just among pickles, it's one of the best foods period), though that's with the caveat that I don't actually know what distinguishes a lot of those options.  Hungarian pickles?  I know my way around obscure food and I've never heard of that as a thing.

Basically, the important thing is that "bread and butter" pickles are awful.  They taste like they were cured in a vat of Splenda or something.  Ugh.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Yeah.. Aldi is great.  It's the kinda place where a full cartload of groceries is $100.  It'd be $400-500 at Whole Paycheck.  And at least the labeling wouldn't be fraudulent at Aldi.

I love pickles, though.

Dill are probably the standard bearer and I eat them as a snack all the time.

Bread and butter pickles are great to have a little bit of.  But they are cloying.  Instead, make homemade refrigerator pickles which will be a little less sweet but similar.  And they are ready in like a day.

The only ones I don't really like much are those clove/spice pickles.  My grandma always had those at Christmas on her "relish tray" next to the punch (which, to her, is always not alcoholic and almost always has scoops of sherbet in it)

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Dill or Polish. Would love to try some of the others as well.

[Murica!]

Russian pickles are objectively the best in my subjective opinion.