Archive for March, 2010|Monthly archive page
pickled, potted and canned
Filed under: business of pickling, friends of rick's picks, media, pickle making observations, recipe ideas |
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My friend Larry gave me this interesting book as a present. It’s called Pickled, Potted and Canned, and unlike a lot of other books on pickling which focus just on recipes, this is a social history and more. As it says on the back cover, it is “a rich and lively narrative of the art and science that forever changed the face of civilization and world trade: food preservation”. Weighty words, but there’s a lot of truth idea of food preservation having such a central role in the evolution of society as we know it. I have yet to crack the book, but it looks great and I’ll write a review here when I am done.
O, baby!
Filed under: friends of rick's picks, media, pickle making observations |
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We are in O: The Oprah Magazine in the current April issue. Oprah’ s Eater’s Digest (p.96) highlights The People’s Pickle… and notes accurately that its flavor is “pure nostalgia”… traditional garlic dill. We were pleased to see mention of The People’s Pickle’s other main virtue: it is low sodium. That’s a big deal for the millions of folks out there watching their salt intake. Many thanks for the shout out, Oprah. Let us know if we can do anything for you. Hmmm… the Rick’s Picks Effect… not sure it has quite the same ring…
The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival
Lauren Klatsky is a Boston-based Friend of Rick’s Picks (that’s a F.O.R.P. if you did not know) and she asked us to provide pickles for a reception at the The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival, which is happening this Saturday March 20th in the South End of Boston. Beantown will be Greentown with a powerful slate of progressive films on topics of interest to those who care about in the sustainable movement and the environment in general. Check it out!
my desktop image
Filed under: friends of rick's picks, media, pickle making observations |
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An unknown location in Turkey.
About five years ago, my old friend from VH1, Mary Wharton, sent me this picture she took on a trip to Turkey. To this day, it is the image on my desktop computer. I find it endlessly interesting… the gentle gaze of the man with the white hair… the exotic and mysterious jars piled high… the metal object (a handtruck?) in the foreground. I’ve often said one reason I love pickles and pickling so much is that they are so universal… whether you are from Japan, Poland or Louisiana. Let’s add Turkey to the list.
our first cookbook is out
With dozens of beautiful photographs, the book spans the spectrum of preserving techniques and possibilities.
The first Rick’s Picks cookbook is out. Williams-Sonoma’s The Art of Preserving features 17 pickle recipes by yours truly (with great assistance from Kate Galassi). The idea with our contributions was to follow the cycle of the growing season… there are recipes for pickled rhubarb (early in the spring) to pickled brussels sprouts (later in the fall). It was really a cool thing to work on (and whetted my appetite to write more). Until June, the book is available exclusively at Williams-Sonoma stores, and then it will be in wide release and, of course, available on our website. I’ll probably do some book signings at Greenmarket and maybe even at a few stores. Check it out!
