TODAY’S FEATURE: Happy International Pickle Day!

I’m pretty passionate about pickles — the sour, salty, tangy, spicy, and garlicky goodness ones. No sweet pickles for me (including relish! 😝)…

Pickling has been part of food traditions around the world for literally ever—centuries, even millennia—as a way to preserve vegetables (and sometimes fruits) using natural fermentation or a mixture of vinegar, salt, and spices.

Where in the World Exactly?

Korea, China, Japan, India… most of Europe, including Germanic, Nordic, Eastern, and Ashkenazi Jewish cultures. And yes, the African continent—West Africa in particular—is no exception.

But somehow, African and African diasporic traditions are often conspicuously left out of the pickling conversation.

Which is especially ironic when you consider that cucumbers—specifically gherkins, a primary pickling medium in America—originated in sub-Saharan Africa. They’re even genetically related to watermelons.

What’s more: Black Americans (especially women) were known for and celebrated for their pickling prowess. They’ve been innovating with brines and preserves for generations—honored at fairs, featured in cookbooks, and relied on to stretch the harvest and flavor the table.

Is Your Mouth Watering for More Pickle Magic?!

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For Now, Enjoy These Pickle Pics! 📸

A few snapshots of where I’ve seen (or stirred up) some fabulous brining energy inclucing:

• A recent pickling workshop/demo I led at Weeksville Heritage Center’s harvest festival …

• A visit to The New York Botanical Garden :

• My friend Kelly’s kitchen counter (she’s always got a fermentation project bubbling)

• And back in the day at Carla Hall's Southern Kitchenin Red Hook, Brooklyn.
I first learned about Carla’s amazing homemade chowchows—those finely chopped, pickled relishes so central to Southern Black cooking—while working with her a few years back. That moment reminded me just how deep pickling runs in African American culinary culture.

Which makes wonderful sense since after all, pickling is about preservation—of harvests, yes, but also of culture, creativity, and resilience. Nothing wasted. Everything transformed, repurposed and consumed for sustenance.

As you can see, International Pickle Day won the random draw for today’s TFG calendar daily focus 😆
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