In the Field

Pickle Power

By: The Local Palate

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I didn’t start pickling until later in life but once I got the bug, nothing was safe. Red onions, collards, jalapeños, cherries, and watermelon rinds were all fair game for a quick vinegar bath or full-on lacto-fermentation during the height of my pickling fever.

It all started with the gateway seven-day sweets—a ridiculously easy bread-and-butter-style pickle that was once a summer stalwart in many a Southern kitchen. As Emily Storrow wrote last summer, the hardest part of making them is finding a weeklong stretch when you’re home. Now you have no excuse! For the secret to this crisp and tangy pickle chip, as well as a few pro-tips to make them your own (read: any excuse to buy a crinkle cutter), she tapped cookbook author and preserves maven Cathy Barrow, who introduced a new generation to the recipe on her blog several years ago.

To find more recipes like this, check out the Southern Savvy department in each issue and online, where we do a deep dive into techniques from the South’s culinary canon. And when you’re ready for more pickles, we’re here for you. Tomatillos, shrimp, fennel, carrots? You can pickle that.