Here are three ways to brighten up a meal with pickles.
Pickled Haitian slaws
Kelly and Stanley Desmangles of the Pickled Pepper People in Greenville, South Carolina, specialize in the pickled slaws of Haiti, their home country, which are known as pikliz. The slaws are offered at three levels of heat: “mild,” made with serrano peppers; “fire,” made with habanero peppers; and “death,” made with ghost peppers. Even the one labeled mild is very spicy. All use carrots, cabbage and peppers from South Carolina farmers. Recipes on the website include such traditional Haitian dishes as griot (roast pork belly), where the slaw stands in for hot peppers; and fried green plantains, with the slaw served alongside.
$10 per 12-ounce jar. Available at pickledpepperpeople.com.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Fermented pickles
Each week, Joe Kidd of Hooch Pickle Co. in Holly Springs makes 450 pounds of classic dill pickles, hot dill pickles and pickles in his signature flavor, “muddy water,” which, like the company name, refers to the Chattahoochee River. These fermented pickles are flavored with peppercorns, sprigs of fresh dill, chunks of fresh garlic and spices that Kidd won’t divulge. They’re packaged in a brine that we were tempted to drink right from the container. After the pickles are gone, you can take that brine and shake it up with some olive oil for a perfect vinaigrette. Keep these pickles refrigerated and they’ll last about a month — assuming you don’t eat them in a week (as we did).
$13 per 32-ounce container. Available at the Braselton, Brookhaven, Canton, Cumming, Flowery Branch, Milton, Smyrna and Sugar Hill farmers markets. Information: hoochpickles.com
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Award-winning pickles
Atlanta-based Evergreen & Market offers nearly three dozen flavors of freshly made pickles, including spicy garlic, bread and butter chips, classic kosher dills and even lemon and strawberry lemonade pickles. The company is the creation of Salwa Kisswani and her husband, Randy Michael, who enjoy thinking up new pickle flavors, sometimes based on customer suggestions. Their banana pickle was named the best of 2024 in the Flavor of Georgia competition. It’s available in slices and wedges, and the flavor is a little sweet and a little spicy, with plenty of garlic. In other words, it hits every pickle flavor point.
$11.99 per 15-ounce jar. Available at the Alpharetta, Green Market, Marietta and Peachtree Road farmers markets and atlantapickles.com.
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