Take it from me: You should be re-pickling your store-bought pickles

My dad’s mother — my grandmother, Grammy — made pickles starting from cucumbers grown in her garden for years and years until she found a wonderful shortcut. She discovered Mt. Olive (brand) Whole Sours and began using them as her base. Unlike many sweet pickles, these stay crisp. They are the first pickle I ever tasted and still my favorite.

******

When I visit my dad and step-mother, Carolyn, in Hattiesburg, Miss, I can count on two things: One, there will be a bowl of her Thousand Island ready to set out for snacking, and, two, there will be a covered glass dish on the kitchen island filled with Grammy’s pickles.

From her first taste, Carolyn fell in love with Grammy’s pickles just like the rest of us, and lucky for us, Carolyn has continued to carry on the tradition of making them. In fact, a testament to just how good these pickles are is that Carolyn began using them in her famous Thousand Island dressing. Until then, her recipe had gone unchanged for decades. 

I call Carolyn’s Thousand Island “famous” because it was the featured dressing at the restaurant, Jimmy Faughn’s, Hattiesburg’s first fine dining establishment and a regional favorite. It was in business throughout the mid-1960’s, 70’s and into the 80’s — and Carolyn’s dressing was a highlight.

But back to the recipe at hand . . .the only difficult part can be procuring the pickles. They must be “Sours,” not dill, and cannot be found at just any market. We have had the best luck at Winn-Dixie or Piggly Wiggly, but hopefully someone at your local grocery can order them for you if they are not stocked. 

Another shortcut Grammy used over the years was pre-packaged pickling spice. There was a time when her recipe called for a little of this and a little of that, but she found a ready-made she liked. She never specified a brand but did instruct us to “get the one with the most seeds and the least amount of leaves.”  So that is what we do.

These pickles are fun to make and a good excuse to get together. The last time our group was small, just my sister, my niece and myself — each with our own huge jar of sour pickles, bag of sugar, cinnamon sticks and picking spice. We turned up the music and enjoyed being together while following what is now muscle memory as we strained and cut the pickles then layered them back into their jars, packing them down with sugar and spices.

---

Want more great food writing and recipes? Subscribe to Salon Food’s newsletter, The Bite.

---

I am partial to these pickles. I think they are the very best, hands down, bar none. I could feel that way because they actually are, but I could also love them for no other reason than because they are Grammy’s and one of the many tastes I associate with being at her house. The only evidence I can provide for the former is that many people are enamored with these pickles who have no connection to Grammy, so I am left believing that it is not me being merely nostalgic. These really are fantastic pickles. And how great that you do not have to start with raw cucumbers!! 

At this point I associate these as much with Carolyn as I do with my grandmother, so I am doubly lucky in that regard. Once you see how easy these are to make, I predict they will become a passed down, family favorite like they are in my own family.    

Also, if that mention of the famous Thousand Island dressing piqued your interest . . . stay tuned.