The sales of pickles and pickled veggies slowed down and held steady the past five years. In the ever increasing food industry this is equivalent to declining sales, which are themselves expected over the next few years. I don't understand this myself since I love pickled vegetables of all kinds. I must have over a dozen different ones in my fridge, and my own homemade ones in the pantry. Some of my favorites are premium and gourmet pickles, southern types with chile's or bourbon in them, or funky Asian ones. I also like weird ones that I can use to garnish my martinis and gin like my trusty Talk O' Texas Crisp Hot Okra Pickles. Mmmmm. Besides the taste, I like the fact that pickles are good for you. I know most people don't equate pickled vegetables with healthy living but they are. All fermented products have pro-biotic health benefits. I hope the big companies do some marketing about the health benefits and pickles become more popular. My reasons are selfish ,but I really want to see more high quality and tasty pickled veggies on the store shelves for me to try.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-13-2006 @ 7:31PM
Ari said...
Most pickles are pretty darn high in salt though, so if you have high blood pressure (and if sodium effects it), you might want to watch it there.
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11-13-2006 @ 8:58PM
Robyn said...
I love pickles too: regular old cucumber pickles, kim chi, daikon, pickled onions (these are Japanese I think), sauerkraut, and these pink pickled turnips at my local falafel shop. Yum...
I do think they are an acquired taste though. I didn't like them when I was a kid.
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11-13-2006 @ 10:33PM
gromit said...
I'm all about pickles of all sorts, but I'm skeptical about the health benefits you suggested. First, not all pickling processes use fermentation to... um... pickle, and second, those that do employ strains of bacteria that don't generally enjoy living in the human GI tract. Not that I'm 100% sure of that (prove me wrong?), but I've never heard them mentioned among all the probiotic lactobacillus strains I'm aware of.
And the sodium content is fairy relative... like so many other things, unless you overindulge, the sodium content of pickles isn't a reason on its own to completely avoid pickles.
My favorite? Hot bread and butter pickles... I use them to make the (in)famous PB&B&BP sandwich. It's a tounge-twister, a palindrome, and mighty tasty - all in one!
g
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11-13-2006 @ 11:24PM
Allison said...
Sure hope you've tried lacto-fermented pickled veggies and fruits. You have to make them on your own since they're purely artisanal and processed food companies want no deviations. Helps you get away from the vinegar and accompanying sugar and high salt content of standard pickled whatever. You can eliminate salt altogether if you simply use some whey, which you make easily by draining regular yogurt overnight. The good stuff with live cultures, please. They'll have names and not just say "cultured." The result is chock full of probiotics, enzymes, and FLAVOR. Check all the health benefits which can be found at westonaprice.org (http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/lacto.html)and lots of recipes in Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions."
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11-14-2006 @ 3:43AM
bert said...
My Russian/Hungarian family loves pickled oddities too... pickled tomatoes and peppers, etc. The main health issue is the huge amount of salt in these items.
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11-14-2006 @ 8:53AM
Sophie said...
The french pickles (cornichons)which are sour are great too. sandwich with ham and butter and cornichons is my favorite. they are hard to find though, only in gourmet markets.
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11-14-2006 @ 3:04PM
Hali said...
I have eatten pickles since I was a kid, especially sweet gerkins. I didn't know what a dill pickle was until I hit puberty. Are sweet pickles really that strange to people? No one I know besides me likes them. More for me!
And on another note, I always found the largest variety of good quality pickled veggies at asian markets. Spicy cabbage kimchi with Mongolian beef is delicious.
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11-14-2006 @ 3:40PM
MJ said...
pickled beets,squash, okra and are great with a equal amout of sugar and vnegar it is great!
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11-20-2006 @ 12:40PM
Bill said...
An article on CNN says:
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00301.html
Limit smoked, pickled and heavily salted foods. These have been linked to an increased risk of stomach cancer. Countries where the consumption of smoked, pickled and salted food is high have correspondingly high stomach cancer rates.
????
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2-12-2007 @ 9:09AM
smokin\\\' mike said...
Have you ever had smoked jalapeño they are pickled and they have no salt and no sugar they are made by smokin dave
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