Last week I bought a sandwich for lunch. The label said 'Ham, cheese and Pickle," which sounded straightforward enough. As soon as I bit into it, I realized that I was missing something. Where was the pickle? And why was there sweet chunky stuff in my sandwich? It wasn't awful, but I'm not sure I would want it again.
After consulting my coworkers and Wikipedia, I discovered that 'Pickle' in this country refers to Branston Pickle, which is sweet and spicy with a chutney-like consistency, containing small chunks of vegetables in a thick brown sticky sauce. Wikipedia informed me that this is a kind of pickle relish made from a variety of diced vegetables, including swede, carrots, onions, cauliflower, egg and gherkins pickled in a sauce made from vinegar, tomato, apple and dates with spices such as mustard, coriander, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nutmeg and cayenne pepper with sugar.
But if this is pickle, than what is a regular old pickled cucumber called? It seriously took me a week of asking people to find someone who knew. Most of my friends made and face and said "I don't know. I would never eat that!" It turns out that pickled cucumbers are called Pickled Gherkins here, and they come in either sweet or sour vinegar. The mini-pickles are called cornichons.
And now I am craving a good ole Kosher Dill Pickle...
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