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CindyJ
Apr 20, 2009 08:10 PM
My brother and his family went to the Hazon "Jewish Foods" conference in California a few months ago. He, one of his daughters and his niece attended a "Sour Pickle" workshop. He's made about a dozen batches of pickles since his return, and those that I've sampled have been pretty darned good -- not quite the stuff out of the barrels on the sidewalk (is that Gus's?) on the Lower East Side, but as good as I've tasted homemade. I haven't made them myself (yet), but here's the recipe he brought home:
Sour Pickles
The vital period of fermentation takes place over the first three days. When fermenting, the temperature around the jar needs to be between 60° and 80° F.
What you’ll need:
• 1-quart jar with lid
• 2 TBS sea salt
• Hot and cold water
• 1 TBS pickling spice mix
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 4 sprigs of dill
• As many pickling cucumbers as will fit in the jar, the fresher, the betterHow to turn cucumbers into pickles:
• Measure salt and pour into bottom of the jar. Add hot water, as little as possible, and stir until salt dissolves.
• Fill 55% of the jar with cold water. Add spices, garlic and dill to the salted water.
• Add cucumbers to the jar, packing them “strategically,” larger ones on the bottom, smaller ones on top, so that the pickles are completely submerged. Cover jar with lid or cheesecloth; do not seal. Allow pickles to ferment in a warm (above 50°) environment. After 48 hours, you have a half-sour pickle. Depending on how sour you want it, continue to ferment and keep checking›11 Replies-
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re: shorts
Zeldog
Apr 21, 2009 03:45 PM
Hey Shorts,
So what makes authentic lower east side pickles authentic?
By the way, my favorite recipe is basically CindyJ's without the pickling spice. And it must be fresh dill fronds (not seeds, and dried dill adds no flavor at all). A couple of items I picked up while searching for recipes: use plain (not iodized) salt, as iodine is not healthy for lactobacteria. Below 55F the pickles may not ferment, and above 80F they may spoil (from molds and such).
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re: Zeldog
shorts
Apr 22, 2009 07:23 AM
Im just hoping to recreate the taste of the incredibly expensive pickles I buy from the LES in NYC. I work 15 minutes away and should be grateful I have such a great resource so close, but Id like to try my own hand at it!
That being said, they are not dill pickles, and it seems that garlic pickle recipes arent the same either. Just hoping!
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I would suggest trying Alton Brown's recipe.. it would be great if you could watch the episode. They seem pretty traditional.
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