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Bill Warren |
Really good stuff |
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Stuff to eat, that is. A recent LATimes article Kruegermann family's peck of pickled
products - Los Angeles Times led us to seek out Kruegermann's pickles and sauerkraut. I haven't tried the kraut yet,
but the pickles are the best dills I can recall buying in a store. My grrandmother made great dill pickles, though they were sort of inclined to explode
occasionally. Kruegermann's pickles don't seem to have that problem, and they're really good stuff. Here's their own website:
KRUEGERMANN PICKLES
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SteveZodiak |
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Are the pickles crisp? Or the cooked soggy kind? And the kraut? crunchy?
Today is only Yesterday's Tomorrow.
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Bill Warren |
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I have yet to try the kraut. The pickles aren't cooked at all, just put through the brining process, and are satisfyingly crisp.
I intended this board not to be about pickles and sauerkraut, but good, commercially-produced food thingies that people run across and might want to recommend. |
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skelton knaggs |
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Bill, you West coasters got the sunshine, movie stars and earthquakes. We of the East Coast got the monopoly on pickles.
Guss' Pickles is a famous pickles vendor located
on the Lower East Side of New York City. Considered one of New York's cultural landmarks, and for many years located on Hester
Street, it is often included as a site of interest in tours of the Lower East Side, much as is Katz's Deli and Kossar's Bialys. As a wholesaler, Guss pickles was also a major purveyor of pickles to many of the
hotels in the Catskills and Las Vegas while the storefront on Hester Street served as the focal point for its retail operations.
Guss' Pickles was founded by a Polish immigrant, Isidor Guss. Guss arrived in New York in 1910, and like hundreds of thousands of other Jewish immigrants, settled in the Lower East Side. Like many of his fellow immigrants, Guss rented a pushcart and sold produce - including his now famous pickles - on the Lower East Side. Clustered in the "pickle district" of Essex and Ludlow streets, early 20th century pickle vendors gave birth to what would be known as "New York style" pickles. Guss at first worked for L. Hollander and Sons, before later opening his own store. At the time, the neighborhood was teeming with 80 other pickle shops. However, immigration restrictions, a ban on pushcarts and the steady economic decline of the Lower East Side felled almost all of these shops. Guss' Pickles survived these fallow times and now stands as the last holdover from the days of the Essex Street empire. In 1979, Harry Baker and his partner Burt Blitz took over Guss' Pickles. Through the 1980s and
into the 2000s, Baker and his son Tim ran the store. The only 3 living people who know
the original Guss' secret recipe are Andrew Leibowitz, Stephen Leibowitz, and Harry Baker.
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Bill Warren |
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I'm not making any comparative claims about Kruegermann's pickles (except to my grandmother's pickles); I'm not
interested in a dill-off. I'm sure Guss makes great pickles, too. Thanks for mentioning them.
On one of the best "Good Eats" shows, the host explained the difference between dill pickles and kosher dill pickles. It's garlic. |
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TServo4 |
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Here in Jersey, we have a peculiar meat item that doesn't go far past this state-- Taylor Ham, aka Pork Roll. Comes in a box that looks like this:
Comes in two varieties-- tangy (the "normal" kind) and a milder version. Now, this stuff looks sort of like bologna, but is easily the best processed meat product ever. You fry it up, and you can make a regular old sandwich with it (sometimes with eggs and cheese), or have it with your eggs like Canadian Bacon, or throw a slice on a hamburger. If you guys see this in the supermarket, pick it up. Good stuff.
J. Theakston
The Central Theater, Passaic, NJ |
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Doc Dynamo |
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TServo4 wrote:As an ex-Jerseyan, I think the smell of frying pork rolls would knock a buzzard off an outhouse. Really smelly stuff. The other regional NJ cuisine---actually its more of a Pennsy thing---that I do not recommend is scrapple. That's some gross stuff. |
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SteveZodiak |
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Southeastern Iowa sensation. No flavored chips. Family owned regional market.
Today is only Yesterday's Tomorrow.
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blackbiped |
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Speaking of regional treats, if you're ever in the Texas area you should try some Alberts Hot Sauce.
Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way.
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Bill Warren |
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Taylor Pork Roll looks like cylindrical Spam.
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lsohgirl |
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Ahhh, Sterzing's potato chips.My wife is from Ft. Madison, Iowa and introduced them to me. Man, artery cloggers but are they good!! |
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skelton knaggs |
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SteveZodiak |
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I'll be in Ft. Madison in two weeks. And I'll be returning with 4 ;large bags of Sterzings. That's my limit. And we love their chip dip.
Today is only Yesterday's Tomorrow.
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Bill Warren |
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Vernor's is widely available out here, even in sugar-free form.. And you're right, it's very good ginger ale, but there are
a couple of artisinal brands I like more--but they don't come in sugar-free form.
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SteveZodiak |
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Another item I can rarely get. Don't even try to say it is like Mt. Dew, it just isn't. It has real citrus and is far less sugary sweet.
Today is only Yesterday's Tomorrow.
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Stuart4th |
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When I was growing up Vernors (not Vernor's) tasted a lot more like ginger beer than it does today. (It also had a darker, more golden color back then.)
Around 1979 or so some friends and I were pulled off the street for a taste test, for what turned out to be Vernors's watered-down new formula, presumably hoping to broaden its customer base. To the analyst's disappointment, all of us chose the original, more potent recipe. |
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Bill Warren |
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Stuart4th wrote: Take a look at the ad above, where it's Vernor's. But on the cans, it is indeed without the a'postrophe. |
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skelton knaggs |
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Stuart4th wrote:Absolutely spot on Stuart. I'll bet it even tasted better in the 30's & 40's too. Just like those hamburgers I used to eat in Newark NJ in the 60's. Everything seems to lose flavor with time. And chemicals..... |
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Stuart4th |
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Take a look at the ad above, where it's Vernor's. But on the cans, it is indeed without the a'postrophe.A-ha. The ad above won't load on my computer for some reason (though all the others do). According to Wikipedia, "The apostrophe in the name 'Vernor's' was dropped in the late 1950s," hence a bit before my time. But we can all agree it's Dr Pepper, not Dr. Pepper, right? |
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TServo4 |
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Absolutely spot on Stuart. I'll bet it even tasted better in the 30's & 40's too. Just like those hamburgers I used to eat in Newark NJ in the 60's. Everything seems to lose flavor with time. And chemicals..... You're actually not wrong. There have been some pretty scathing reports published over the years that show that the food we eat is so genetically engineered these days to yield certain numbers and be resistant against infection that something as simple as corn today does NOT taste the same as it did even 20 years ago. Likewise, soda flavored with real cane sugar has a far different taste than corn syrup, which has been used over the last 20-30 years because its price remains steady (as opposed to sugar, which isn't generally expensive, but is a highly unstable crop). Ironically, with many corn crops turning to ethanol (which in turn is killing the wheat market and raising prices on that product), the price of corn has gone up, and many labels are turning back to cane sugar again, turning it into a good PR story that it's for the demand for healthier/organic foods. Re: Vernors. My father grew up in Detroit, so when I'd go to visit my grandparents every year, there was inevitably a bottle of Vernors there. I still remember that medicinal, but not unpleasant, taste, and recently a late friend of mine from Detroid handed me a can that he brought back with him. Tasting that again was a kick in the pants and brought back a lot of memories. Likewise, are there foods or drinks that bring back specific memories to you?
J. Theakston
The Central Theater, Passaic, NJ |
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rvoyttbots |
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Pepsi, Coca-Cola, 7Up were all much better when I was a kid. Of course, they all used sugar back then. I really dislike the taste of Pepsi nowadays. I wish I
could get a chocolate malt like I had back around 1959/1960 at the downtown Rexall Drug store. It didn`t have that chocolate syrup taste like malts have now.
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