A Guide To Kosher Pickles

Take the Kosher Dill Pickle, which was popularized by Jewish immigrants in New York’s Lower East Side in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Initially, their kosher label came from the Jewish Orthodox Congregations of America. Nowadays, “kosher” has little to do with Jewish dietary law, and instead refers to the pickle’s characteristics: pickled in a salt brine, flavored with garlic and dill.

“Non-Jewish” or “Non-Kosher” pickles, in contrast, are pickled with vinegar, and often flavored with sugar and pickling spices. Vinegar, made from wine, was too expensive for most Jews to use back in Eastern Europe, hence the simple salt brine they brought with them when they immigrated to the U.S.

We now know that this method, called lacto-fermentation, enhances the nutritional aspects of a vegetable and preserves many of its vitamins and minerals, as well as significantly extending their shelf life. For Eastern European Jews, this was essential, as pickled veggies were the only kind available/affordable in cold winter months.

New York’s Jewish pickle hawkers also popularized the Half-Sour Pickle, which similarly relied on lacto-fermentation, but did not include dill. These pickles are only brined for a week or two, so they’re not fully fermented. This explains their bright green color, ensures they stay crisp, and results in a more subtle pickle flavor.

Leave that half-sour for three months and it becomes a Full-Sour Pickle: darker in color, with a more intense flavor.