The Pickle. What can one say about one of the most delicious and transportable foods in the history of the universe? The pickle. A food so good that even my brother who absolutely hates cucumbers can appreciate this fine food. Slice it. Dice it. Chop it up. And then serve it with almost anything. It’s just one of those rare foods which can find its way into almost any dish. Anywhere. This is why it’s hard to believe that we here at the Guide have not celebrated National Pickle Day, November 14th.
As far as the history of my family with the pickle, we have loved the pickle for as long as I can remember. My mother has been making jokes about me being pregnant because of my penchant for eating pickles almost anytime, and almost anywhere. It’s just so delicious and refreshing. You could give it to me sliced, chopped up, or cubed, and I would eat the pickle anywhere. Or you could give it to me whole on a nice hot day and I will savor it like nothing you could believe.
Everyone in my family has a story about their love of the pickle including one with grabbing it right out of a person’s hand and eating it at the tender age of 6 months. We just have loved our pickles for as long as we can remember. We even steal them off the plate of our own family members while they are not watching. And we will love the delicious treats as long as we draw breath. Which hopefully is a very long time. But given our crazy country, who knows? Nevertheless, when it comes to pickles, we are all for it.
But how did this delicious delight come to be? Who in the world thought about sticking a cucumber in brine and thinking it would be a good thing? It seems odd. This is why we at the Guide knew we needed to go on our never-ending quest to find how this amazing food came to be. And we got into our WAYBACK machine to find out the history of the pickle. Because we just couldn’t trust the dark web anymore. Or at least we decided on this post it would be more fun to use our zany time machine to find out. What did we find? Where did we go? How deep a hole did we have to bury ourselves in to find the answers? Check this all out in our Fake History of the Pickle.
The Fake History Of The Pickle For National Pickle Day
Once upon a time, a long time ago. Well . . . not a billion years ago with the primordial ooze. And not a million years ago when a man looked at a Dinosaur and decided it would be a good idea to run. But approximately 4400 years ago in the Tigris River Valley, those Ancient Mesopotamians and their crazy cousins decided to throw a week-long party to celebrate the fact the sun rose another day.
Yes, the sun rose every day for them. But they were just so darned excited about it then even created a god to throw offerings to for making sure that big yellow disc kept filling the sky every day. And in their festive nature, someone decided to get out the alcohol. But someone had let this alcohol get a little too pungent and the people at the party started to get sick one by one.
They didn’t know what to do. They didn’t want to waste this alcohol which had taken them months to ferment and get to the right doneness. And now someone had let the process go just a bit too long and there was this funky taste to it all. A medicine man called Vege Tabalis came out to be able to see what he could do to fix the water. He knew that these roots from the earth tended to have some healing properties. So he ended up taking some carrots and celery and sticking it in the mixture in hoping it would fix the problem.
But as the illnesses subsided and they realized the roots had not cured the alcohol, what they did realize is that these roots had a strange new and delicious flavor to them. Not only that, but these roots seemed to last a long longer and stayed fresher for months as opposed to the other ones which went bad within weeks. So while this sun party had been a real bust, at least something really good came from it.
The pickle had to wait though. Because for some reason no one thought to stick the eorthapples in the brine. Or maybe it was just because said eorthapples didn’t really exist except for hundreds of miles away in India. Eventually, these briny solutions would make their way out to India in the 2100s B.C. and a crazy scientist by the name of Kas Kheera decided he would start messing around with other things to put in this brine. He tried putting beans and fruits like the plum into the mixture, just to see what the results would be.
He then would try giving it to the villagers as medicines to see if it would help them feel better with any of their ailments. For some it seemed to help, and some it didn’t seem to do anything at all. So Kas kept trying with various different things. Until one Sunday when the Indians were praying to their ancestors thanking them for their bounteous crop of eorthapples (cucumbers).
Kas wife, Mishran, was preparing all of the various dishes in advance to serve the gods on this particular Sunday when she ran out of the water she used to keep the eorthapples fresh until serving them. She went to Kas’ laboratory looking for anything she could use and found a relatively clear fluid in the back and dunked the eorthapples the week prior to the festival. Then, she got really agitated when a week later she realized the eorthapples had shrunk. Mishran feared the gods would not be pleased.
So, Mishran went to her husband Kas demanding to know what the clear liquid she had dunked the eorthapples in. Kas instantly realized where his missing brine had gone too. He had assumed thieves but he now was grateful to know that his wife had taken it. But when she showed the shrunken eorthapples she had to bring to the gods, Kas sunk back in dismay. He feared he would be banished from the village and left out on his own.
And when the festival happened with the eorthapples, he tried to hide his and brought other dishes to serve to the gods. But when the elders of the village demanded Kas bring his eorthapples, he shrunk and brought them before the elders. They immediately laughed at him with the shrunken roots. Kas knew right then and there he and his whole family would be tossed out. That is until one of the elders decided to try this shrunken eorthapple.
Taistar, the held elder took the eorthapple and bit into it, expecting to hate what he had found. Instead, he found the most intriguing and delicious eorthapple he had ever tasted. He loved it so much he hid the eorthapples and spoke aloud to the villagers.
“While we normally demand everyone sacrifice their own eorthapples to the gods, we realize that Kas was a little under the weather and so his crop was bad this year. We feel like the gods will not be angry at him. And we will allow them to sacrifice these carrots instead.”
The villagers stood stunned. It also stunned Kas and his wife Mishran. But they accepted the grace and left the party that Sunday feeling like they had escaped a certain death. They were happy all was forgiven.
That is until Monday when Taistar and the other elders came banging at the door. Kas looked out and Mishran too, fearful they were there to throw them out of the village. They started to gather their belongings when Taister told them to let them in.
As they allowed the elders into the hut, Kas and Mishran started to apologize profusely when they saw Taistar motion for them to stop.
“We are not throwing you out of the village. On the other hand, we need you to make more of those shrunken eorthapples. Those delicious things were gone in one night and we had to have some more. You must make more. Or tell us how you made them. Do that and we promise we will not throw you out of the village.”
And with that pronouncement, the era of the pickle came to pass. Before long, Kas and his delicious pickles were the hit of the village. They were so good that all future sacrifices of food in the future were for Palak instead. No one was willing to give any more eorthapples to the gods when they could have those delicious pickles made from them.
A Recipe With Pickles For National Pickle Day
So while the pickle does come from India, some of the amazing things made with pickles one cannot find in Indian cuisine. Which leads me to what I do with every food holiday post. I either find restaurants who specialize in the dish, or I find a recipe I really like with the food inside. Or a great recipe for the food. While I could find a good way to brine pickles for National Pickle Day, I just don’t feel like it’s so varied a recipe. So I’m going to give you one of my favorite recipes with pickles in it: Dill Pickle Potato Salad.
I always love a good potato salad. But if you want to add a little something special to the dish, Dill Pickles have to be part of the party. And this recipe for Dill Pickle Potato Salad Does the Trick. However, this is not my recipe for Potato Salad like some of my other recipes I have done. Consequently, I have to give credit where credit is due. And Taste of Home does give my favorite recipe for Potato Salad to celebrate National Pickle Day with.
Dickle Pickle Potato Salad
Ingredients:
3 Pounds Russet Potatoes
6 Hard-Boiled Large Eggs, Chopped
3 Celery Ribs, Chopped
3 Medium Dill Pickles Finely Chopped (Yes I add more pickles to the recipe)
1 ½ Cup Mayonnaise
¼ Cup Dill Pickle Juice
1 Teaspoon Celery Seed
4 ½ teaspoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Leaf Lettuce, optional
Directions
The Directions for the dish can be found at the Taste of Home Website right here:
Dill Pickle Potato Salad Recipe https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/dill-pickle-potato-salad/
Wrapping Up National Pickle Day, November 14th
When it comes to foods, it’s rare I love a food so much I can eat it anytime, anywhere. But there’s just something about the pickle which makes it both refreshing and delicious. And it’s so good that my family also enjoys it. How many things can you serve that pretty much the whole family will love? Almost none. Which makes the pickle such a delicious and entertaining option for any party.
Given all of this love for the pickle, my mouth is watering at this very moment wanting to go out and grab some right this moment. I hope you have some amazing time to celebrate this wonderful food. And I hope you all will celebrate the pickle this coming November the 14th. Because it just feels right to celebrate the pickle.
Taking On The Pickle
What did you think of the Fake History of the Pickle for National Pickle Day? What other foods do you like brined? Do you try to brine a turkey? What other foods do you like to celebrate in November? What is your favorite Dish? Is there another food holiday you think we should celebrate in the future?
If you liked this National Pickle Day Food Holiday post, please check out some of our other food holiday posts. You will enjoy the stories if nothing else. Then click the like button and leave us a note in the comments. Share with a friend. And finally, follow us here at the guide to get the latest food, parenting, entertainment, fitness, and lifestyle blogs we do all the time. Thank you for taking your day to spend a bit of it with us.
Until next time this is me signing off.
