Over the weekend, a few girlfriends and I settled into a Glen Powell rom-com double feature: “Anyone but You” (an atrocious allocation of Columbia Pictures’ funds and my own time) and “Set It Up” (an ode to the form).
In the latter, Powell and Zoey Deutch, who play two assistants repeatedly hamstrung by their abusive bosses, agree to split up one order of takeout — a burger with a pickle and some mac and cheese — into two so that neither employer goes hungry. “The pickle is my dinner!” Deutch exclaims, but Powell ruthlessly claims it. What’s a sandwich without a pickle, he insists.
But from the elevator, he shouts: “You know that pickle? That aforementioned pickle? That wasn’t for my boss. That was for me.” He crunches into it and flashes a devious grin. A good pickle can make you lose your way.
While the sweet-and-sour curious might flock to pickle-flavored chips and almonds and falafel and popcorn and pizza, real pickle people know they can be the not-so-secret ingredient that punches up a dish. I reckon Hetty Lui McKinnon is one of those people. That would surely explain her pickle-laden pasta salad, which calls for plenty of pickle brine and sliced pickles.
I’d be remiss to mention freshly fried tofu and not offer you the pièce de pickle résistance, Superiority Burger’s crispy fried-tofu sandwich. You can thank Lex for this one too, as she adapted the recipe from the chef Brooks Headley. Seared planks of tofu take a swim in pickle brine seasoned with Dijon mustard, hot sauce and chile flakes. The final product — topped with more pickles, of course — is such a convincing dupe for a classic pickle-brined fried-chicken sandwich, you might forget what you’re eating. You might forget who you are.
Or save your pickle brine for soup, like ogórkowa zupa. Many Polish cooks have their own take on pickle soup, and in Kasia Pilat’s version, a hearty blend of root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, celery root, parsnips) is fortified by grated sour dill pickles and their pickling liquid.
And I can turn to pickles when what I really need, but definitely forgot to buy, is fresh dill — a brilliant swap gleaned from Ali’s green bean salad with dill pickles and feta. “Using dill pickles instead of dill contributes acid, crunch and verve to the classic combination,” she writes.
Maybe you don’t need me to tell you to smash and slice and dice pickles into your salads and sandwiches. But can I tell you to make Andy Baraghani’s pickle biscuits, supremely tender from the brine’s acidity? What about Heather Rush’s tart and refreshing pickle brine margaritas, adapted by Nikita Richardson? Either has the power to make a passionate pickle person out of you.
