by Ted Sherman

Created on: February 28, 2009

In my learned opinion, the best of all of the many types of pickles are the fresh kosher style, made with either full-sized cucumbers or small ones called gherkins. There are also dozens of ways to prepare fresh koshers. The simplest is called the half-sour pickles. Put them in boiling water for just ten to 20 seconds. Then pack them whole and still hot with their water into large jars.

Add a half-teaspoon of coarse kosher salt, a dash of vinegar, several sprigs of dill with their seed pods, pickling spices and a clove of garlic for each pickle in the jar. Be sure to close the lid tightly, preferably in a rubber-enforced Mason jar, so there's no air remaining inside. Let the bottles stand in a cool place for no more than ten days. Serve pickles whole cool or refrigerated. The key to this way of making koshers is that they retain their bright green skin colors, as well as their deep flavor and satisfyingly crunchy sound when you bite them.

A sister product is the pickled kosher tomato. It is prepared in the same way as the cucumber kosher dills, using either unripe green or firm red tomatoes. As with the cucumber pickles, they're best eaten within ten days after bottling. They can be served whole or sliced as side dishes or in sandwiches. Kosher style pickles are also chopped and served as relishes to flavor for hot and cold meat, poultry and fish dishes.

Another form is called the bread and butter pickle. A favorite for adding to hamburgers or cheese sandwiches at fast food outlets, they're made from cucumbers or gherkins, boiled with sugar, green and red sweet peppers, onions and pickling spices. They're bottled in thin slices; sometimes the slices are serrated to give them a distinct look.

A similar version is called sweet and hot, because added ingrediants are chili peppers and/or fresh hot red peppers. Sweet and hot bread and butter pickles can also be diced or bought that way, and served as relish in sandwiches or as flavoring for hot and cold dishes.

There are many other vegetables that are pickled throughout the world, especially in some ethnic cultures. There's the Mexican jalapeno pickled pepper, that comes in various degrees of heat, from mild to burning the skin inside the mouth. The Chinese, Koreans and Japanese are masters at the art of pickling cucumbers, as well as other vegetables, including cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, radishes and others. Their varieties also include pickle pieces that can be large or small, as well as sugar sweet or jalapeno hot.

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