OK, this isn’t a dissertation on existentialism, just my repeated observation that NYC deli pickles–those served on your table in mid-Manhattan’s finest delis–do not taste like any pickle I’ve ever had before. Here’s a good one word assessment: bleh.
Admittedly, I’m used to the pickles served in delis everywhere but the Big Apple, and I’m rather partial to the refrigerated type found in grocery stores. Yes, I may be an infidel, but that’s life.
What’s with the disgusting taste? Are these considered old-world authentic?
There are different types of pickles that might show up at your table. The one I think you got was a half done pickle, and frankly, it’s an acquired taste. Between cucumber and full Kosher dill, it could be called meh, unless you love the subtle flavors invoked by stopping the process early.
Now, for me, the pickled tomato thing you can throw away.
I don’t know if this is what you’re talking about, but there’s basically two different ways to sour a pickle: one with vinegar (quick pickles) and one that’s fermented (traditional kosher pickles). They have very distinct flavor profiles. The quick pickles have an acetic sourness caused by the vinegar, while the fermented pickles have a lactic sourness introduced by the fermentation. I suspect it is the lactic sourness you object to.
Personally, I do not like vinegar-based pickles, far preferring the complexity and gentle tartness of a fermented pickle.
That picture is making me hungry for some half sours. Those are Heaven on Earth. Bright green, crispy, garlicy (but not too overwhelming), vinegary. aaaahhhhh. (Next in line comes the garlic pickles - but don’t plan on speaking to *anyone * for a LONG time after eating those).
I’m not really big on Dill Pickles, though. Who wants mine?
I used to own a nyc restaurant with pickles (in a metal bowl) on the tables, and I can’t remember what system we had, if any, for discarding pickles over time. We’d just put them out there every day from the cold room overnight, and put new ones in the bowl when it got low. Theoretically, it’s possible that the pickle you had has been standing there in vinegar since 1947.
The linked photo above is right on, but the pickles come in an underwhelming assortment of tastes and shades of green. None comes close to the standard non-NY pickle today also available in every grocery store.
These NY deli pickles lack any punch or wow. Very yawn-inducing.
The delis I’ve visited include Katz’s, Carnegie, Stage, Maxxie’s, Roxie’s, and on and on. Naughty, naughty pickles, they be. That said, outrageously good sandwiches, mustard and potato salad.
Not that this will help much, but we have a local pickle merchant that sells many varieties fresh from the barrel. He operates out of the Collingswood Flea Market on Rt. 33/34 in Farmingdale, NJ. These are indeed better than any pickles I have had in a NYC Deli or Diner and much better than the fresh pickles from the Grocery store.
I had found a pickle vendor at a Bayridge, Brooklyn grocer whose pickles were the best evah! He was on 3rd ave. I no longer have an excuse to visit Bayridge, so I have to settle for my Flea Market Pickles.
Jim (shamrock227: Now I feel like getting a quart of fresh pickles)
Mmmmmm. Pickles. I haven’t been to Wolfies or Carnegie or any of those in some time, but I’m not ashamed to say I eat the entire bowl when I’m there. Half sours, baby!
You can have my bowl–and the ones I dropped onto the floor.
“Half-sours”? Never heard of 'em. The ones I was nibbling on tasted somewhere between blah and kinda nasty. There wasn’t any punch to them–no garlic infusion, no briney tang, nothing memorable in any way. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen people wolfing them down. My guess is that they were old-world pickles.
Brownie: You have earned Carnac’s pre-Christmas ire. May a crazed Bulgarian weightlifter clean and jerk your sister’s fez!
Fresh pickles, isn’t that a contradiction in terms? (or at the very least, a Band Name? ), how can something be fresh and pickled (preserved) at the same time
