Until recently the joy of a good pickled cucumber eluded me. I just never quite understood their allure until I went to New York and had the cream of the crop pickle wise at the famed Katz Deli, and I’ve not looked back since. In England we pickle our our onions and our eggs, but cucumbers not much. While in Korea a side of pickles come with just about every food imaginable, but the complaints generally sway towards being way too sweet or way to spicy. Like a man, a good pickle can be hard to find. So since it’s cucumber season and all I thought I’d throw my hand at making some up myself and if I do say so myself I reckon I did pretty darn good for a first try. I ordered my pickling spices from iHerb, they have a decent selection so I’d advise ordering from there they also come in 1 pound bags so you may wish to share with your friends. After that it was easy as pie, I boiled my brine, cut my cucumbers, popped them in the fridge then went off to Busan. 48 hours later I returned to some darn tangy tasty pickles. I was heavy handed with my spices but I think that worked for the best, though in an ideal world my fresh dill plant would have been a bit more hearty so I wouldn’t have had to supplement it with the dry stuff.  I shall definitely be doing some experimenting with different vegetables, herbs and spices in the near future, I knew I hoarded all those jars for a reason! (more…)