The definitive American pickle: Kirby cucumbers fermented in garlic and dill brine, no vinegar required
Origin: Lower East Side, New York, USA
From the journey of Cucumber.
The New York kosher dill pickle is one of the most culturally specific foods in American culinary history. The term 'kosher' here does not refer primarily to Jewish dietary law but to the garlicky Lower East Side style developed by Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, primarily Poland, Ukraine, and Lithuania, who arrived in New York in enormous numbers between the 1880s and the 1920s, bringing with them the deep fermentation traditions of the old country. The pickle barrel was a literal fixture of Lower East Side street life: vendors sold pickles directly from open barrels on Orchard Street, Hester Street, and Essex Street, and the smell of garlic and dill brine was inseparable from the neighbourhood's identity. Guss' Pickles, established in 1910, became the most famous of these operations, surviving on Essex Street until 2009. The New York Jewish delicatessen, Katz's, Carnegie, Second Avenue Deli, made the kosher dill the mandatory companion to pastrami on rye and corned beef sandwiches, cementing its place as the default American pickle. The sourness in a kosher dill comes entirely from lacto-fermentation, Lactobacillus bacteria converting the cucumber's natural sugars into lactic acid, and not from vinegar. This distinction produces a fundamentally different flavour: complex, slightly funky, alive, with a sourness that builds gradually rather than hitting sharp and flat. Kirby cucumbers, small, bumpy-skinned, firm-fleshed pickling cucumbers, are the correct variety; their lower water content and thicker skin produce the snappy, crunchy texture that defines the New York dill pickle.
The single most critical variables are the cucumbers (Kirby pickling cucumbers (watery salad cucumbers will produce soft, disappointing pickles) and the water (non-chlorinated) even moderate chlorination can completely prevent fermentation). The fermentation speed varies dramatically with temperature: at 22°C the pickles are ready in 3 days; at 18°C it may take 5–6 days; below 15°C fermentation is very slow. Do not refrigerate during the active fermentation phase. A white cloudiness in the brine is normal and desirable; it is the lactic acid bacteria. Storing in the fridge will keep for up to 6 weeks, progressively souring throughout. The brine is a prized condiment in its own right: use it in potato salad dressings, marinades, Bloody Marys, or as a shot alongside a whiskey.
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