# Don't want a pickle **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 22, 2006, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191 "2006-12-22T07:01:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/121 "2006-12-29T20:12:09Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] [some things are sadder](http://davidguy.brinkster.net/goaste/lasteevercalvinstrip.html). [sub]Warning: not safe for people with a spark of joy left in their lives[/sub] [/QUOTE] [This one is even worse](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA64g3pi97M&eurl=) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/122 "2006-12-29T21:48:40Z")
[QUOTE=ENugent] [This one is even worse](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA64g3pi97M&eurl=) [/QUOTE] That’s evil! ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/123 "2006-12-29T23:23:51Z")
Would it bug anyone to hear that I went into McD’s the other day for one of my rare visits and the manager glanced up and had told the kitchen to prepare my order before I even got up to the counter? Admittedly he guessed my drink wrong but what the heck, I’m hardly ever in there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/124 "2006-12-30T08:16:55Z")
I married Indian and eat Indian\* at home every day, so to me pickles means _ācār_ (or _aachaar_), made most often of green mango, very very _very_ heavily spiced. And oiled. They are packed not in brine but in a thick oily _masala_ paste. They’re the only pickles in the world I savor, especially with _khicari_ (a lightly spiced blend of lentils and fragrant _basmati_ rice) and _pāpar_ (light crispy fried wafer made of lentil flour). Once in a while, not all the time. But I think of _ācār_ as the ultimate in strong flavor bombs. In India the stuff is traditionally regarded with a certain supernatural awe: menstruating women are not supposed to go in the pantry where the _ācār_ jars are stored, lest her menstrual aura cause it to go off. Hey, I didn’t make this up. It sounds misogynist to me. One thing I can tell you about protecting _ācār_ from going off is to always make sure the spoon you stick into it is very clean, very dry. \*Take that phrase however you like ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/125 "2006-12-30T13:49:44Z")
[QUOTE=Johanna] …menstruating women are not supposed to go in the pantry where the _ācār_ jars are stored, lest her menstrual aura cause it to go off. [/QUOTE] [Noooo, don’t go into the…](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjKeSr1x4P0) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/126 "2006-12-30T15:04:42Z")
[QUOTE=Johanna] But I think of _ācār_ as the ultimate in strong flavor bombs. [/QUOTE] This morning as I ate breakfast I was browsing through _On Food and Cooking_, a fascinating book. And I ran across a description of _surstrømming_: > [@](#): > > Fish pastes and sauces are cured with enough salt to limit the growth and activity of microbes. There are also fish fermentations that involve far less salt, so that bacteria thrive and have a far more powerful influence on flavor. One notorious example is Swedish _Surstrømming_. Herring are fermented in barrels for one to two months, then sealed in cans and allowed to continue for as much as another year. The cans swell, which is normally a warning sign for the growth of botulism bacteria, but for _surstrømming_ a sign of promising flavor development. The unusual bacteria responsible for ripening in the can are species of _Haloanaerobium_, which produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide gases, hydrogen sulfide, and butyric, propionic, and acetic acids: in effect a combination of rotten eggs, rancid Swiss cheese, and vinegar, overlaid onto the basic fish flavor! Now, I’ve never tried _surstrømming_ or _ācār_, so I’m no judge; but if the latter is the ultimate in strong flavor bombs, does that mean the former is the mother of all flavor chemical warfare? Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/127 "2006-12-30T18:30:57Z")
Eeewww. We have had other threads on The Grossest Foods in the World. For now I’d rather not go there… ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/128 "2006-12-30T18:45:53Z")
[QUOTE=Johanna] Eeewww. We have had other threads on The Grossest Foods in the World. For now I’d rather not go there… [/QUOTE] Fair enough–it was just on my mind, having read it over breakfast :). Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/129 "2006-12-31T06:21:13Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] Hey Muffin, can I have your pickle? 😃 These puns are vlasic! [/QUOTE] On the contrary, I think they should be levied with a huge brine. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/130 "2006-12-31T09:09:35Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] Now, I’ve never tried _surstrømming_ or _ācār_, so I’m no judge; but if the latter is the ultimate in strong flavor bombs, does that mean the former is the mother of all flavor chemical warfare? [/QUOTE] I’ve had surstromming. Do a search for it and you’ll find my post on it. It’s easily the most potent thing I’ve ever tasted, and I’m an adventurous eater. If you want to try some for yourself, [you can mail order it from here](http://www.northerner.com/html/mat-fi_1.html) for a reasonable price, like I did. For the love of all that is holy, open the shit outside. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/131 "2007-01-02T11:24:50Z")
Hm… I don’t like eating a burger with a pickle on it (a texture thing) but I enjoy the slight taste of the pickle juice on the burger. Mail me your burger. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/132 "2007-01-09T02:15:13Z")
> [@Auntbeast](#): > > However, I don’t like them infecting everything else in the meal. As stated previously, the brine is still there and while you are eating a hamburger, presumably to taste the hamburger all you can taste if the PICKLE. PICKLE PICKLE PICKLE I have the opposite problem. Most burgers don’t taste _enough_ like pickles. I always ask burger jockeys (I use the term affectionately; I’m a minimum-wage worker myself) to remove the onions–maybe I should ask for extra pickles too. I don’t know why I never thought of it. Anyway, WTF is so hard about making a Big Mac without pickles? As I said above, I work for minimum wage too, and you’d better believe if someone asks for a change to their order–extra-hot, lots of foam, light on the chocolate sauce, sugar-free flavoring syrup, whatever–I’m going to take heed, and write it on my copy of the receipt so I’m extra-sure that I or whoever makes the drink doesn’t forget the requested options. Holding the pickles (heh) is probably the easiest part of that dude’s job. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/133 "2007-01-09T02:48:25Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] I used to do that as a kid all the time. I also used to drink straight apple cider vinegar, right out of the bottle. Oh, and my favorite snack was Lipton’s Cup of Soup. Without any water. I’d just eat it out of the little foil packet. I think I had some sort of serious sodium defeciency going when I was a kid. [/QUOTE] I can top that – as a kid, I used to eat rock salt. Just nosh on a few pieces at a time from the bag my dad used to keep in the garage for icy days. And even now, I still have fantastic blood pressure, although that’s gonna change when I hit middle age, judging by my family history… ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/134 "2007-01-09T02:53:40Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] extra-hot, lots of foam, light on the chocolate sauce, sugar-free flavoring syrup [/QUOTE] Sounds like quite the burger. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/135 "2007-01-09T13:24:15Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] Hey, I warned you. It makes me tear up, too. I’m a total softie, but misery loves company. Daniel [/QUOTE] _A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys; Painted wings and giant strings make way for other toys; One grey night it happened Jackie Paper came no more…_ _sniffle_ ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/136 "2007-01-09T13:27:20Z")
Reminds me that everywhere I go and explicitly state that “I want a water and NO LEMON”, the server without fail brings me the water with that goddamn lemon staring at me. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/137 "2007-01-09T13:29:46Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington] This reminds me of my youngest brother’s eating habits when he was four or so. No pickles, no onions, no mustard on his hamburger. Just a hamburger with ketchup. And the ketchup had to be in laid in the shape of a smiley face on his burger and all balogna sandwiches. [/QUOTE] Not just _his_ boloney sammiches, but _all those served at the meal in question?_ :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/138 "2007-01-13T17:47:34Z")
On Thursday I went to a hotel restaurant, ordered a hot roast beef sandwich, with no pickles. As you can guess, I received a hot roast beef sandwich with a large pile of pickle slices. Sigh… ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/139 "2007-01-13T19:32:07Z")
[QUOTE=pool] Reminds me that everywhere I go and explicitly state that “I want a water and NO LEMON”, the server without fail brings me the water with that goddamn lemon staring at me. [/QUOTE] Say, quickly, “Water an’ no lemon.” Then say, quickly, “water an’ a lemon.” What you should say is, “Water–and does that normally come with lemon?” When the waiter says “Yeah” or “not normally, do you want lemon?” shake your head and say, “I hate lemons, can I get mine plain?” Daniel ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/140 "2007-01-13T19:45:26Z")
I’ve tried stuff like that before and even told the servers how other servers always forget, and then still the lemon. Maybe they do it on purpose ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191.md?page=8)