Text 8556, 144 rader
Skriven 2011-03-20 08:32:14 av Dave Drum (1:18/200.0)
     Kommentar till en text av Jim Weller
Ärende: A real dilly!
=====================
JIM WELLER Said to HAP NEWSOM about A real dilly!

JW>  HN> whenever I hear gherkin...I think sweet pickles

JW> Gherkins are merely very small cucumbers and can be pickled many
JW> ways: sweet, sour, with or without dill, with or without garlic.

JW> Un-dilled sweet gherkins are the most familiar ones in NA, the
JW> French are famous for their sours (cornichons). Stephen's German
JW> gherkins are different again than both NA sweet gherkins and regular
JW> dill pickles.

See my post to Nancy on this subject. Gherkins are a separate cultivar 
and close cousin to the cucumber. Burr gherkins are a different deal 
altogether.   Bv)=

A Little Bit of History

The gherkin is commonly found in slices littering an area of roughly one
square mile around any fast food restaurant. However, this is not their 
natural state. In fact it isn't their natural state to be in fast food 
restaurants at all. The pickled gherkin is a pickled cucumber, and not a
gherkin. There is no such thing as an un-pickled gherkin. But, 
nevertheless, if you take a young cucumber and preserve it in a jar of 
vinegar it becomes a gherkin.

Gherkins are believed to have been the first ever pickle and were 
enjoyed 4500 years ago in Mesopotamia. Cleopatra was a fan of pickles, 
as she believed that they would enhance her beauty. Roman legionnaires 
and Napoleon's troops all enjoyed their pickles too, and during the 
Second World War 40% of all pickles produced in the US were earmarked 
for the Armed Forces - it would seem that the humble gherkin is a 
serious aid to warfare.

The Perfect Gherkin

The perfect gherkin should have a length to diameter ratio of 3:1 with 
the perfect length being between two to four inches; this way you can 
store more in a typical canning jar. The perfect gherkin should also 
exhibit seven warts per square inch if you are serving them in North 
America (Europeans prefer them wartless). When pickling a cucumber to 
make a gherkin you should prick them once or twice so that the flavours 
penetrate better. You can even experiment by adding garlic or whole 
chilies to get different flavours.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A593598

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

      Title: Dilled Gherkins
 Categories: Squash, Pickles, Condiments, Preserving
      Yield: 

        lg Non-metallic mixing bowl
     12 qt Pot
      1 l  Mason jars; as many as fit
           - in your pot
      1 l  Measuring cup & a measuring
           - spoon
           Fresh pickling cucumbers; 
           - 5 cm in length, as many as
           - will fit in your jars

MMMMM--------------------HOME STYLE BRINE---------------------------
           Salt; lots (see below)
      4 cl Garlic; peeled, chopped
      2 tb Fresh dill, chopped
    1/4 c  Hot banana peppers; sliced
           White vinegar, 6% acid; 
           - enough to fill all your
           - jars

  Make sure that the salt doesn't have iodine in it as an
  anti-caking agent as this will turn your gherkins a funny
  colour.
 
  Mix the garlic, dill and vinegar together in the bowl (add
  the hot banana peppers at this).

  Add salt to the mixture - continue adding until no more salt
  will dissolve.

  Pack cucumbers tightly into the jars (whole or sliced).

  Pour the brine mixture into the jars until they are full to
  1/4" from the brim.

  Close the caps tightly and place the jars upright into the
  pot (do not stack the jars).

  Fill the pot with tap water to a depth of about one to two
  inches over the jars and bring the water to a slow boil.
  
  Continue boiling for 5 minutes then remove the pot from
  the heat.

  Begin adding cold tap water slowly so the pot overflows
  (Caution: adding cold water too quickly may crack the jars).

  Continue pouring in cold water until jars are cool enough to
  hold.

  Remove jars and store in a cool, dark place.

  Your gherkins will be ready to eat the next day.

  Nowadays, the most likely place to come across a gherkin is
  in any fast food restaurant. More specifically, they are
  found in the burgers. Some people claim to like them but
  most will just discard them almost immediately. Burger Star
  (a small English fast food chain), however, supply gherkins
  on the side with all the other relishes, which is a happy
  compromise.

  Gherkins, along with other pickles, have a strange property.
  If you were to connect two electrodes to a gherkin and pass
  an electrical current through it, it will glow. Experiments
  have been performed and the results show that this is true.

  However, gherkins are not going to become the new light bulb
  any time soon. Initial experiments with gherkins were
  disappointing as they only glowed in a localised area around
  one electrode. Other more spherical pickled items were found
  to be better and glowed more, probably due to their shape.

  A final note it's worth mentioning that May is International
  Pickle Month, so make a point in May to enjoy a gherkin! 

  From: http://www.bbc.co.uk

  Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives

MMMMM

ENJOY!!!

From Uncle Dirty Dave's Kitchen
Home of YAAAAHHHHOOOOAAAAHHHH Hot Sauce & Hardin Cider 

X CMPQwk 1.42 16554 X
... Criticism is prejudice made plausible. H. L. Mencken

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