My pickle plate (would eliminate either the green beans or asparagus, both at bottom, next time)
It irks me that places are charging $4 or so for a “pickle plate” the size of a saucer with 3 or 4 choices. I would rather go to Tommy’s Joynt in San Francisco, where there is a pickle jar on the counter and you can curdle your stomach to your heart’s content. But the good news is, the current trend gives you license to serve up a pickle plate to your guests with a straight face and even, if there are some bonus proteins and carbs included, call it lunch.
Pickle plate with bread and cheese = lunch
“Pickles” can refer both to lacto fermented vegetables and to items which do not have their chemical composition changed, but are preserved in a vinegar brine. I would serve both of these on a pickle plate. The example shown here has two lacto ferments, the green beans and the asparagus. (They are oddly similar in taste after the fermentation, but not quite the same, so I would serve on or the other next time.) Add to this a pickled egg (there’s your protein) and some beets and onions from Jake’s grandmother’s recipe. I also included some cauliflower chunks that were macerating in leftover pickle juice from Pucker’s, a local brand.
If I had them I might have included some sweetened bread-and-butter pickles or some spicy giardinara. I would not have added Sichuan Pickled Vegetables which are complex enough they need to be enjoyed on their own, or in the context of a bowl of jook or medley of Sichuan dishes.
As it is, I added a piece of toasted Olive Bread with Rye Starter that had been spread with some Stilton from Trader Joe’s. There you go, here’s your lunch.
except for the egg…I’d eat that anytime!!!