Disco Pickles? Dill Me In

There are lots of traditional pickle brands in the US. If you grew up in the Deep South like me, then you probably had a whole shelf in your fridge door devoted to Mt. Olive pickles, a company that’s been producing pickles in North Carolina for 101 years.

Carolina tobacco farmers used to grow cucumbers as ground cover as part of their crop rotation. The goal was to rest and replenish the soil rather than to actually produce cucumbers to eat. But some smart citizens banded together and had the bright idea to brine the cukes rather than let them rot in the fields. Their first jar of kosher dills went on the market in 1925.

When Vaughan set out to try his hand at dill pickles, he hunted through old recipe books on my mom’s shelf. Picklers today don’t tend to have alum or lime to hand, so he researched modern ways to maintain a dill pickle’s essential crunch. Because we can all agree: a floppy pickle is no use to man nor beast.

Cucumbers get their stiff stuff by way of natural pectin, which binds cell walls together. But the heat and vinegar required by the preserving process break the cells down. Adding calcium chloride provides extra ions that reinforce the pectin structure, which results in a crunchy bite. (Calcium chloride is also used in making cheese and beer, and it’s an electrolyte you commonly find in sports drinks.)

There are many burgers that demand a dill pickle. I do not like to deny them, nor myself. And this is why I’m personally very grateful that Peter’s Perfect Disco Dills exist.

SIDE NOTE
My parents’ vacation cabin is in North Carolina, so I thought it would be fun to drive from their place in Pumpkintown, NC, (pop. 612) to the famed Mt. Olive Pickle Parlor. Guess how long Google Maps told me it would take? SIX HOURS. As such, we’ve never been!