How much cheaper can cucumbers be in India? It seems enormously irresponsible to ship jars of pickles from India to sell in US grocery stores. I will never purchase another jar of Nalley pickles and feel like dumping the jar my wife brought home after I read the label. We are self destructing. If we don't start looking a little further ahead than today's bottom line, we are going find ourselves in the dustbin of formerly great nations. Local News | Packer outsources Northwest pickles, local cuke growers snap | Seattle Times Newspaper Edited for Fair Use: Northwest brands reject pickles from Northwest growers Edited for Fair Use: image originally found at seattle-pi.com
I haven't been able to find a can of mushrooms what wasn't from China. I prefer fresh anyway but sometimes it's okay to add a can to a sauce. I won't buy the Chinese.
Happens everywhere...Our govt ran a campaign called "Buy only homemade produces", and it worked...The way our mentality goes here is: first we buy stuff made here...if we don't make it, we buy from one of former Yugoslavia republics, if none of them makes it, we buy from neighbouring countries, else other EU countries or China. We don't have anything from US, except whiskeys, burbons and other liquors. When foreign companies opened market chains here, they tried lots of foreign stuff, including US foods, but noone would touch it, so they dumped it all and restocked with former YU and EU products and they are doing fine now...
You damn furriners should be snapping up treasuries to help keep the plates spinning. Whatsa matta witcha?
Pickles are easy enough to make - "roll your own".....! And cucumbers have gotta be the easiest veggie to grow. Dad always had a bumper crop - grew like weeds!
My wife made about 15 jars of pickles and relish this summer. We had a fairly good yield from our very small garden. Grow your own.. they're super easy to take care of. All you need is tons of sun and buckets of water they grow extremely fast.
Here also people make, or they buy from people who make, a thing invented here called "ajvar"...Basically, it's sweet red peppers, at least 100 kilos, barbecued on a plate, then peeled, cleaned, grinded with manual meat grinder, put in huge pots, added oil, salt, some spices, garlic and cooked low and slow untill almost all water evaporates. When done, immediately put into hot jars, sealed hot, covered with blankets and left to cool down for a day. This stuff lasts at least 3-4 years in dark and cool, and for months open in the fridge. It's a sort of traditional ancient thing, and almost every house has at least a dozen jars stored...I have 2 dozen... There are few other recipes and mixtures, but this is the basic and favourite one... If you find something in the stores saying Ajvar or Ajver and it's made in Macedonia, try it...although that commercially made stuff is absolutely no match for home made ajvar, it would give you an idea on the taste.
Just so you know... Watch out the next tme you buy boullion cubes! We were in a hurry, threw a jar of the beef and chicken flavors in the cart and brought them home. We use them for fast and easy gravies! Not any more. The beef we never opened just threw it away, AFTER we tried using the chicken flavored. It came from EGYPT! It tastes like dish soap! Yukkkkkk!
best pickles in the world come from here at the corner of Cucumber and Vine... Welcome to Mt. Olive That's Picklicious!
A co-worker occasionally brings in a bag or two of cucumbers grown organically by her neighbors - longtime friends of her family. She also brings in tomatoes and ocra. I use the ocra and 'maters in my tomato soups and spaghetti sauce. The produce isn't always 'pretty' - it's grown for taste, not looks on a display counter - so the cukes especially can vary in size and shape - some get rather odd looking - but they taste good!
Thanks for the idea - I might need to make some ajvar. Googling, there seems to be a decent number of recipes floating around. It sounds almost like a roasted red pepper version of Baba Ghanoush. Rather than barbecue the peppers on a plate, I'll probably roast the peppers over a gas flame until the skin blisters & pops, then put them in a sealed plastic bag (to let the skin separate from the pepper flesh). With the standard (boring) bell peppers, you probably don't even need to try & peel the skin off - it's pretty soft anyway. I need to decide between using red bell peppers (boring!) and red New Mexican/NuMex or sweet paprika style chiles (yummy roasted chile flavor). It depends on what sort of peppers are available at my local stores. Here are a couple recipes I've found online: Fall Brings Red Peppers and Ajvar, 'Serbian Salsa' : NPR Macedonian Ajvar Roasted Red Pepper Spread Recipe http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/dining/203brex.html Does your favorite version contain onions, lemon juice, or vinegar? What sort of spices are used, besides salt & garlic?
I don't like the "cubes." It seems like the wrapper ALWAYS ends up stuck to the outside of the cube, making it a royal pain in the tukas to remove. I prefer the 16 oz plastic tubs of US made chicken/beef/ham flavored soup base. No refrigeration required. 1 teaspoon per cup of liquid. Simple....no stuck wrappers (or cursing, for that matter!)
Dr. I'm going to have to disagree with you in a non-confrontational way and say: You are so absolutely wrong! The best pickles are those that my wife makes !
Your just saying that cause she reads the forum and would take exception... however since i have not partaken of your lady wifes pickles i will grant you the possibility... and restate that the best commercial pickles are Mount Olive pickles....
Just remember that we barbecue them on a plate because then they get very soft and mushy, and peel slides off by itself! No one here ever puts the peppers on an open flame, because they will stay hard and won't cook later on properly! My favorite version is only with salt, oil, garlic and a mixture of spices made all over the Balkans, under different names... http://www.alkaloid.com.mk/zacinal-boxes.nspx Vegeta — Vegeta
And I in turn will accept that Mount Olive Pickles are the best commercial pickles out there. Our local grocery carries them. I love their Hot Chow Chow but alas i can't find it any more. their sweet gherkins are nice and sweet crunchyness !
Went to the "dollar general" store yesterday, actually began to LOOK at and READ the labels! Yikes! I usually will buy "clover valley" products from Goodlettsville Tenn. No longer! They do make some things still, but, most are now imported from all over the place! My favorite of all is Egypt! Canned goods even! I mean really now, would you BUY "creamed corn" from "EGYPT"???? I am NOT going there! I'm sure some that have the audacity to do so, can comment on where the corn comes from, and I'll let the creamed part pass....!
To an extent; we have bought it on ourselves. We love our in-season produce. In fact, we love it so much, we want it out of season as well. I have the same argument in regard to US grown oranges. How can oranges grown in California; be grown/ stored/ transported from one end of the planet to the other; and still be economical enough to be competitive with our own Australian ones? One benefit of peak oil; it will mean a resurgence of locally grown produce as long distance transport becomes prohibitive.
Yep, local produce will get more expensive as oil prices skyrocket - but the influx of foreign produce will dry up. Who needs foreign-grown stuff covered in preservatives and engineered to look good on the store shelf, when our local stuff tastes so much better and isn't poisonous? AND, it helps support the local farmers. I hope to see a big resurgence in local farming.
