Kosher dill pickle

Ingredients

Cucumbers

• 2 kgKirby or small pickling cucumbers
• ice water, for soaking

Brine

• 2 litreswater
• 100 gcoarse non-iodised salt — a 5% brine

Aromatics

• 2 headsgarlic, cloves peeled and lightly crushed
• 3large heads dill, with stems and seed
• 2 tbsppickling spice
• 1 tbspblack peppercorns
• 6grape, oak or blackcurrant leaves
• 2dried chillies, optional

Directions

1. Soak the cucumbers in ice water for four hours. This is what gives a pickle its snap, and there is no way to put crispness back into a cucumber that has gone soft on a shelf.
2. Trim about 3 mm off the blossom end of each cucumber — the end opposite the stem. That end carries an enzyme that softens pickles from the inside, and cutting it off is the oldest trick in the barrel.
3. Layer the cucumbers upright in the jar with the garlic, dill, spices and leaves.
4. Dissolve the salt in the water to a 5 percent brine, using non-iodised salt: iodine inhibits the lactic bacteria and clouds the brine.
5. Pour the brine over cold to cover by 5 cm and weigh everything down so nothing floats.
6. Cover loosely and leave at room temperature. The brine will cloud and fizz within two days — that cloudiness is the ferment and is not a fault.
7. Skim any white film from the surface daily and keep everything submerged.
8. For a half-sour, stop at four to six days: still bright green in the middle, crisp, lightly sour. For a full sour, go two to three weeks, until the cucumber is olive-green through and properly sour.
9. That choice between half-sour and full sour is the whole New York deli distinction, and both are correct.
10. Refrigerate when it is where you want it. The cold slows but does not stop the ferment, so a half-sour will slowly become a full sour over a month or two in the jar.

Technique

• Ice water, blossom end trimmed, non-iodised salt.
• Everything under the brine, film skimmed daily.
• Cloudy brine is fermentation. Slimy brine or a soft hollow cucumber means it went too warm.

Substitutions

• Grape or oak leaves for the tannins, if you have no blackcurrant.
• A ziplock bag of brine as a weight.
• More garlic and more dill, which is what most delis actually do.

Variations

• Sour green tomatoes and pickled peppers, made in the same barrels.
• The brine is drunk, sold as pickle juice, and used to brine chicken.

History

Eastern European Jewish immigrants cured cucumbers in brine barrels on New York’s Lower East Side, where pushcart pickle vendors lined Essex Street.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kosher dill pickle?

Kosher dill pickle is a fermented & pickled from United States: garlicky barrel-fermented cucumber, sour or half-sour, eaten with deli sandwiches. Eastern European Jewish immigrants cured cucumbers in brine barrels on New York’s Lower East Side, where pushcart pickle vendors lined Essex Street.

How long does Kosher dill pickle take to make?

Kosher dill pickle takes 30 min plus 4 days to 3 weeks of preparation and 5 min of cooking. The recipe makes fills a 3-litre jar. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Kosher dill pickle?

Yes, within limits. Grape or oak leaves for the tannins, if you have no blackcurrant. A ziplock bag of brine as a weight. More garlic and more dill, which is what most delis actually do.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kosher dill pickle?

That choice between half-sour and full sour is the whole New York deli distinction, and both are correct.