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Why pickles? Why now? We carried this project in our minds and hearts, fermenting, for six months. In the fall of 2007, we teamed up to produce a multimedia master's project on local food. Along the way we got derailed by Dennison Lee, a gregarious food lover we met at the Violet Hill Farms meat stand at the Union Square Market. He mentioned this weird thing called "lacto-fermentation" and invited us up to his apartment to try it. The three of us spent an afternoon pounding cabbage into sauerkraut, and doing so forever transformed our project. After that weekend, we continued to report on local food, but neither of us could stop talking about the exhilaration of making our own pickles. We decided to scrap the local food project in favor of one that focused on the crispy crunchy sour homemade delights that captivated us in the making and in the eating. Over the next six months, our research took us to the Lower East Side, to ethnic enclaves in the outer boroughs, to farmer's markets and pickling classes. The phrase "we're doing our master's project on pickles" elicited chuckles from our contacts. We spoke to more than 70 chefs, cookbook authors, historians, purveyors and picklers. We invited people we stumbled across in the technical manuals aisle at Barnes and Noble to our pickling party. We also read six books, from Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma to Mark Kurlansky's Salt to Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions. For the duration of the project, we continuously asked ourselves "why pickles? why now?" although at times, our topic felt unfocused and we teetered on the edge of despair. The zizz of pickled lemons or homemade kimchi on our tongues kept us going. In the end, we circled back to the place where we started - sustainable and local food. It made sense, not simply because of our earlier research, but because many local foodists advocate a return to traditional methods of growing, preparing and eating food. Hope you enjoy the fruits, no - the pickles - of our labor. Comments? Questions? Pickle problems? Email us at CityPicklers@gmail.com. Lisa and Lizzie |
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