Half-Sour Pickles

Does anyone know where to buy half-sour pickles?

If you're not familiar with them, they're pickles that aren't quite pickled yet. They're milder, not as sour & usually still bright cucumber green and not soft like a fully cured pickle. Good ones should be very crisp & crunchy

Stein's in Lyon's always had a bowl of dill pickles on the table, but there'd only be one or two of the half-sour ones & we'd always fight over them.

Occasionally you'll get one with your sandwich at a good deli.

I've looked at the Polish markets where you pull 'em out of a barrel, but those are always full sour.

Trader Joe's has purportedly half-sours in jars, but they're pale imposters to the fresh, crunchy monsters I recall.

Anyone?

Kaufman's has them in the barrel near the deli counter.

In jars, I'm partial to the Ba-tamte brand. Fairly expensive. I've seen them at T.I., People's (now Wild Oats) and even Dominick's on occasion. (Not lately.). Trader Joe's has a house brand of half-sour that's not identical but a very reasonable facsimile for a lot less $. That's what I normally get. (I have also found that you can buy small pickling cucs. and re-use the brine at least once. You get a nice batch of pickles after 2-4 days just sitting in the fridge.)

I think The Bagel still puts a pickle bowl of 1/2-sours on the table, as does that suburban import deli on Wabash around Madison--suddenly the name escapes me. Maybe Ashkenaz too, but I don't know. One could ask them who their source is.

village market in skokie has them in clear tupperware style containers in the regrigerated aisle

Best Kosher will sometimes release a batch of these that can be really great, but you have to get them right away, before thier color changes (they get yellowish)...at that point they loose that special 'new pickle' character. I agree Kaufmans and Ba-Tempte are good as well, but I really like the Bests when available because they're more garlicky than the others.Unfortunately, they only seem to come out a few times a year.

you can get them at chaim's in a barrel near the deli counter. it's on dempster, across from the skokie swift. you can also get pickled green tomatoes, and some other kinds of pickles. they're all 2.49 a pound, get it weighed at the deli counter.

You can also pick 'em up at Stanley's at North and Elston, near the back of the store by the olives/herbs/etc.

Has anyone seen these around lately? I've been looking everywhere with no luck.

The Ba-Tampte are still around at TI and Jewel stores with a Kosher section (Niles, Howard in Evanston). During farmers' market season That Pickle Guy sells half-sours. Otherwise, pick a good deli and you'll find them.

If you go to a Polish deli that has those barrels of pickles in the back (for example, in my neighborhood, Gilmart has them), they usually have a variety of pickles, including half-sours. The half-sours are called "ogórki małosolne". For further reference, here's the signage you may see at a Polish deli in the pickle section:

ogórki kiszone or ogórki kwaszone - full sours, brined and naturally fermented pickles, no vinegar
ogórki małosolne - half sours, same as above, except fermented for a shorter period of time
ogórki konserwowe - pickles preserved with vinegar

Binko wrote:ogórki kiszone or ogórki kwaszone - full sours, brined and naturally fermented pickles, no vinegar
ogórki małosolne - half sours, same as above, except fermented for a shorter period of time
ogórki konserwowe - pickles preserved with vinegar

this info about Polish pickles is GOLDEN.

Thank you.

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I've been wondering: are the only fermented pickles available in grocery stores the ones in open barrels? Are those all fermented? My biggest question: are any brands of commercially jarred pickles (Vlassic, etc) fermented? I'm asking because of some things I've been reading lately about the health benefits of fermented foods, such as pickles, sauerkraut, and kimchee.

Bubbies Brand would have fermented pickles. Not alot of places carry mass produced fermented vegetables in jars.

Here's where Bubbies says they sell around my zipcode:

http://www.bubbies.com/find_bubbies/index.php

Katie wrote:Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I've been wondering: are the only fermented pickles available in grocery stores the ones in open barrels? Are those all fermented?

I was at Bobak's and Gilmart yesterday, and one of those places (sorry for my memory) definitely had "ogórki konserwowe" as one of the barrel options, so not all of the barreled pickles are fermented. Had I not noticed this, I would have thought all of them are fermented, but apparently not.

This event at Gene's Sausage Shop (Lincoln Square) might be worth visiting for the pickles. They also typically have a few half sours in their deli barrel.

TASTE OF POLAND & GERMANY! SAT. APRIL 16TH, NOON-4PM.
Gene's Sausage Shop is celebrating its roots with a tasting of Polish delicacies. Gene's will be sampling traditional Raspberry Sparkling Mineral Water, Hochland Cheeses, old world Cucumbers in Brine as well as Polish Dill Pickles.

For the beer aficionado, Weihenstephaner will be sampling Original, Hefe Weissbier, and Korbinian....!

Katie wrote:Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I've been wondering: are the only fermented pickles available in grocery stores the ones in open barrels? Are those all fermented? My biggest question: are any brands of commercially jarred pickles (Vlassic, etc) fermented? I'm asking because of some things I've been reading lately about the health benefits of fermented foods, such as pickles, sauerkraut, and kimchee.

Ba-Tampte also has fermented pickles -- they are in jars in the refrigerator case (as are the Bubbie's, mentioned above). Basically, you want to look for pickles that do not contain vinegar.