Bread & Butter Pickles – One of the Great Depression’s Greatest Hits
During the Great Depression, sandwiches weren't quite what they are today. Forget about choice of aioli, or did you want roast tri tip or smoked turkey; back then it was more like, "Did you want cucumbers in your sandwich, or nothing in your sandwich?" Okay, cucumbers it is.
At the end of summer, the excess "cuc" crop was sliced, salted, pickled, and put up in jars for the cold, lean months ahead. If you thought summer Depression-era sandwiches sucked, it was much worse in winter, when you couldn't even find a bland vegetable to slap between your slices of buttered bread.
I can just imagine what a treat it must have been to fill a sandwich with these sweet crunchy coins, or "bread and butter pickles," as they came to be known. I'm sure it was a wonderful break from what must have been a fairly flavorless existence. Happily, times are a bit better now, and we only make these because they taste really good.
So, make a batch, experience a little piece of American culinary history, and as you're tossing them on that burger, think back to what those days must have been like. I mean, especially with no YouTube! I hope you give these bread & butter pickles a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for about 2 pints:
- 2 lbs pickling or other firm, little cucumbers
- 1/2 yellow onion, sliced
- 2 red jalapeno pepper, sliced
- 3 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups white distilled vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon celery seeds
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced