Are Christmas pickle ornaments really a German tradition?

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A Weihnachtsgurke. Photo: DPA

By Anja Samy   –   The Local de

Hang a shining… pickle… on the highest bough? The Weihnachtsgurke, or Christmas Pickle, is supposedly a classic German tradition. But it may not be quite as traditional – or German – as you’d expect.

Legend has it that when Germans decorate their Christmas tree, the very last ornament they hang on it is a pickle.

Usually made from shiny or matte green glass rather than cucumbers, the Christmas Pickle is much more than just a decoration.

On Christmas Eve, the first child to find the pickle hidden amongst the branches on the tree is said to get good luck for the year to come, as well as an extra present.

SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about preparing for Christmas like a German

If you ask someone from the American Midwest, they will most likely be able to tell you all about this German festive custom. Germans, on the other hand, will have absolutely no idea what you’re on about.

In December 2016, a YouGov survey found that only 7% of Germans had ever heard of the ‘Weihnachtsgurke’.

What’s more, only 6% of Germans with children who know about the Christmas Pickle actually practise the tradition.

But you can certainly be forgiven for believing that the Christmas Pickle comes from Germany as Germans do certainly love their pickles.

What’s more, many of the best festive traditions such as Christmas trees, a large number of Christmas carols, advents wreaths and Christmas markets actually do have their roots in German customs.

Though no one is entirely sure where the Weihnachtsgurke originates from, with a number of German newspapers even publishing explainer articles for the puzzled German public, it’s pretty likely that whoever brought it to the USA capitalized on the popularity of these German Christmas traditions when marketing pickle ornaments to American consumers.

On the packaging of a lot of pickle ornaments you can find an explanation of how to carry out the ‘time-honoured German tradition’, emphasizing how it’s an ‘Old World custom’.

Glass ornaments only really started being produced in the late 19th-century, with a whole range of shapes – including fruits and vegetables – being sold in stores.

The likelihood is that the Christmas Pickle tradition is just an ingenious marketing scheme by an American retailer to help shift a load of leftover pickle ornaments.

But there are a number of less cynical myths explaining the significance of the Christmas pickle.

One story goes that a captured German-American soldier in the civil war became seriously ill and asked for a pickle as his last meal. After eating it, he was somehow restored to health and from then on always hung a pickle on his tree each year.

According to another legend, St. Nicholas (the original saint, rather than the jolly, fat man with a fondness for elves) disovered that a shop keeper had murdered three boys and hidden them in a barrel of pickles.

St. Nicholas prayed for the boys and his faith miraculously brought them back to life. Supposedly, from then on the pickle has been linked to St. Nick and consequently to Christmas.

Somewhat ironically, the Christmas Pickle has made its way across the pond and has recently started to rise in popularity in Germany.

Take a close look the next time you’re in a Christmas market or shop; nowadays you can find pickle ornaments across the Bundesrepublik in every style and size you could possibly want.

Recipe of the week: Pica pau (quick-fried beef with pickles)

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WRITTEN BY: NEWS DESK  –   The Caterer

Photography 
by Andrew Montgomery

Pica pau means ‘woodpecker’, and you eat this dish with a cocktail stick, picking pieces up and gobbling them a bit like its namesake would. My version uses beef fillet; if you ask your butcher to give you the tail ends of the fillet it will be a lot cheaper, without compromising on flavour. I use Ibérico ham for its rich, sweet flavour. You could use other cured hams, but remember to check the salt 
content, since some types are saltier and less nutty than Ibérico. When I dream of this dish, which I often do, it always comes with an ice-cold draught beer.

Serves 4

For the pickled vegetables
600ml Japanese rice vinegar
600g caster sugar
50g fine sea salt
2 bay leaves
½tsp black peppercorns
1 small head cauliflower, 
cut into bite-sized florets
2 carrots, cut into 5mm slices
1 onion, cut into eighths

For the piri piri oil
5-7 fresh piri piri, malagueta 
or bird’s eye chillies
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1tsp fine sea salt
300ml olive oil
10 dried piri piri or 
malagueta chillies
2tbs brandy or aguardente velha
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1tbs lemon juice
1tbs white wine vinegar
3 bay leaves
A few black peppercorns

For the pica pau
1tbs good-quality pork fat
1tbs olive oil
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 small long red chilli, deseeded (optional) and halved lengthways
300g beef fillet, rump or sirloin, 
cut into bite-sized pieces
150g thick-cut cured ham, ideally Ibérico, Serrano or Parma ham, finely chopped
10 small gherkins, finely chopped
About 1tbs dry white wine, to taste
A small handful of parsley leaves, finely chopped
Lemon wedges, to serve
Piri piri oil, to serve (see above)
Sea salt flakes and ground 
white pepper

To make the pickled vegetables, put the rice vinegar, sugar, salt, bay leaves and peppercorns in
a pan with 600ml water. Place 
over a medium heat and cook until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and bring it to the boil, then add the cauliflower, carrots and onion.

Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl to cool, along with the liquor. I like to make this the day before I use it. Stored in an airtight container, it should keep for two weeks in the fridge.

To make the piri piri oil, make a paste with the fresh chillies and sea salt using a pestle and mortar or a food processor. Heat the paste with 60ml of the oil in a small 
pan over a low heat. Add the remaining ingredients, except the remaining oil. Increase the heat to medium and cook for 3-4 minutes, to burn off the alcohol and lightly caramelise the garlic and chillies. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the rest of the oil.

To make the pica pau, take a handful of the pickles, cut them into small pieces and then set aside.

Melt the pork fat and olive oil over a high heat in a large frying pan. When the fat starts to sizzle, add the garlic, chilli and beef and season with salt and pepper. Fry quickly for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in the ham, chopped pickles and gherkins, then add the white wine, starting with half a tablespoon and adding more to taste as required, along with a splash of pickle liquor if you like. Fry for another minute. Take the pan off the heat and stir through the parsley. Serve immediately, 
in the pan, with cocktail sticks. Lemon wedges and a drizzle of piri piri oil are nice additions.

Recipe taken from Lisboeta: Recipes from Portugal’s 
City of Light

Photography 
by Andrew Montgomery

Jalapeño Popper Dip is Your Favorite New Make-Ahead Appetizer

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BY: BESSIE MCDONALD-GUSSACK   –   Food Network Canada

Everything you love in a jalapeño popper is whirred into a cheesy, party-perfect dip. Spicy jalapeños, crispy bacon, cream cheese and a crunchy topping come together for a delicious, ultra-indulgent dip. Serve this up with veggies and tortilla chips at your next party for a crowd-pleasing riff on the new-classic appetizer.

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Serves: 8 to 10

Ingredients: 
6 strips bacon
2 (250 g) pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
4 jalapeños, seeded and finely diced
3 green onions, minced
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
Sliced veggies or tortilla chips for serving

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook bacon, turning occasionally, until crispy, about 10 min. Remove bacon to a paper-towel lined plate and reserve 2 Tbsp bacon grease in a medium heat-safe bowl. Once bacon is cool, chop or crumble into pieces.
3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese until smooth. Gradually mix in mayonnaise until fully combined. To cream cheese and mayonnaise, add Cheddar, jalapenos, green onions and bacon pieces and mix to combine. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly into a 9-inch round ovenproof dish.

4. Stir panko into reserved bacon grease and sprinkle over cream cheese mixture. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until bubbling at the sides. Serve warm with tortilla chips or veggies for dipping.

Make-Ahead: You can make this dip ahead of time (without the panko topping, and prior to baking) and store covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Warm refrigerated bacon renderings in the microwave until liquefied and stir in panko. Sprinkle cream cheese mixture with panko mixture and bake, adding 5 minutes to the cooking time (40 to 45 minutes instead of 35 to 40 minutes).

Nothing gets a crowd going like a good dip, so here are over 25 party-perfect options to dive into.

Bessie McDonald-Gussack

Bessie McDonald-Gussack is a Toronto based recipe developer and writer who absolutely lives for food and has always been interested in cooking, baking, food trends, restaurants and of course, eating. After having worked in the baking industry, Kraft Foods and interning in the test kitchens of Chatelaine and Canadian Living magazines, Bessie decided to go solo, working as a freelance recipe developer and culinary consultant. She’s created hundreds of recipes from the savory to the sweet and all delicious combos in-between.

Six Flags wins world record for hanging pickles on a tree

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Six Flags Over Georgia has a new spot in the record books, and park president Dale Kaetzel is pickled pink about it.

“Tonight, our guests were able to create a new family tradition during the most magical time of the season,” Kaetzel said. “Each guest who participated in our record attempt took home their very own Christmas pickle ornament to place on their tree each year.”

On Saturday, the theme park set the record for the most pickle ornaments hung on Christmas trees. The festive gherkins came courtesy of home decor retailer Pier 1 Imports, which gave out 500 pickle ornaments for guests to place on trees lining the park’s entrance.

In some parts of the country, people hang pickles on their Christmas trees, and whoever spots the pickle first on Christmas morning gets an extra present and good luck for the upcoming year.

To celebrate the record, Six Flags held a snowball fight with plush snowballs for guests. The event was originally scheduled for the previous week, but had to be canceled due to snow.

There’s A New Pickle-Sized Avocado And It Doesn’t Have A Pit

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By Bridget Sharkey   –   Magicvalley.com

Pickle Sized Avacado

Avocados are one of Mother Nature’s most delicious and versatile fruits. (Yes, avocados are a fruit!) And now farmers in Spain have made them even more spectacular by growing avocados without a pit.

Known as ‘cocktail avocados,’ they are smaller than the average avocado, and instead are about the size of a pickle. They have no stone, and their flesh is edible.

The process behind their creation is actually quite simple. The farmers keep a Fuerte avocado blossom from being pollinated, which in turn stops it from growing a pit, and also stunts its growth — thus giving us a small cocktail avocado with no pit and an edible exterior.

Once ripe, you can cut off one end of the cocktail avocado and squeeze the whole fruit out, just like you would squeeze toothpaste out of a tube. Voila! It’s that easy.

In fact, this ease of cutting is part of the reason why so many people are excited about this new avocado variation. Cutting avocados has long been a point of stress in many people’s kitchens, as it’s easy to cut your hand (an injury called “avocado hand”) while dicing an avocado if you aren’t careful.

Remember when Meryl Streep showed up to a movie premiere with a huge bandage on her hand? That happened because she badly cut herself while trying to dice an avocado! This stuff’s serious, y’all!

It’s about time these cocktail avocados came into existence. We can’t have our Hollywood treasures risking life and limb just to enjoy a little guac.

But here is some bad news: Cocktail avocados are only available in December, and thus far, only Europeans who shop at the British grocery chain Marks & Spencer have been lucky enough to snag this awesome creation.

However, you could still try to find a Fuerte avocado in your local grocery store, as these are available from November to February. Haas avocados are by far the most popular type of avocado sold in the United States, but the California export Fuerte has a wonderful mild flavor and a beautiful green skin.

If you are lucky enough to find a Fuerte (or if you live in California, where Fuertes are quite popular), then try this amazing recipe from the blog Kirbie’s Cravings for chocolate avocado banana bread! You will never want plain old banana bread again.

Would you try a cocktail avocado, given the chance? Let us know in the comments!

This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.

You Don’t Need Fancy Tools To Clean Peppers

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By Sam Bithoney   –   Skillet

Photos by Sam Bithoney

Peppers, of any variety, are a pain in the ass. Irregularly shaped, filled with bitter ribs and somewhere between 12 and 850,000 tiny seeds that make their way into the darker recesses of your kitchen, hoping to be found one day by anthropologists who proclaim “They were just like us!”

Mankind has come up with some interesting solutions for this problem, but it doesn’t apply universally—most of these tools are focused on Bell and Jalapeño varieties. There’s an easier way, and all you need is a thin, sharp knife.

Start by cutting off the top and bottom of the pepper, which will provide you a level surface on your cutting board. After that, peer into the pepper. You’ll be able to see the entire structure with ease, and from there just follow the inner walls with your knife, cutting opposing sides each time to maintain stability.

You’ll have uniform slices, perfect for cutting into matchsticks and dicing without those weird curly ends, as well as a rectangular prism filled with seeds that fits perfectly in the trash.

 

With an eye on summer markets, classes teach Anchorage refugees pickling, fermentation

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Author: Devin Kelly   –   Anchorage Daily News

Hassan Gedi dipped tongs into a boiling pot and pulled out glass jars full of dark purple liquid.

The jars contained pickled grapes marinating in brine. Next summer, Gedi, a 29-year-old refugee from Somalia, may be able to sell his own pickled goods at an Anchorage farmers market.

“I would like to learn this, to make money myself,” said Gedi, who came to Anchorage more than a year ago and also has a job at a fish processing plant.

Through the nonprofit Catholic Social Services, Gedi is one of a handful of refugees taking cooking classes this winter. A newer extension of a summer gardening program that began a decade ago, the classes focus on food production, business and social skills. It’s part of broader community efforts to re-settle people arriving in the U.S. from conflict-torn regions.

Amid a national slowdown in refugee resettlement, the agency decided to focus its programming on the existing refugee population in Anchorage, said Liza Krauszer, the state refugee coordinator. Through the cooking classes, she said, the agency hopes to help develop the skills of refugees in addition to gardening. A federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture supports the program.

The winter classes come at a time when farmers markets and cottage food production in Anchorage are on the rise. Farmers markets have sprung up in Mountain View and Muldoon, two of Anchorage’s lower-income neighborhoods. The markets have created a niche for small-scale farmers and gardeners and the sale of homemade, non-temperature-controlled products like bread, cookies, jams, pickles and relishes, advocates say.

In May, acknowledging the popularity of the markets, the Anchorage Assembly sharply dropped an annual fee to sell cottage foods, from $310 to $50. Next week, the Assembly is slated to debate new regulations that license Anchorage cottage food vendors for the first time and drop the fee even further, to $25.

Lower fees are good news for refugees trying to break into the market, said Jesse Richardville, the class coordinator. He said that while the cooking classes would have happened regardless, high costs could have discouraged participants from branching out into their own businesses.

“The goal of our program is to teach our gardener participants – here’s another economic endeavor, and here’s another source of income,” Richardville said.

On Saturday, in a building at the back of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in East Anchorage, a small group learned about two types of food preservation: pickling and fermentation. Richardville watched over the jar-boiling and explained techniques. Pickling involves vinegar, he said, and fermentation calls only for water and salt.

When two class participants walked into the room, Richardville greeted them by pointing to a line of colorful Mason jars. Each had a different type of produce inside — spicy pickled garlic, sweet-and-sour pickled garlic and spicy pickled grape.

Richardville named off the contents and handed the men tasting cups.

Nearby, Claudia Hernandez, 23, and Agustina Ramirez, 44, helped organize jars. The women fled political unrest in Oaxaca, Mexico, nearly two years ago. Both also participated in the summer gardening program.

In Spanish translated by Hernandez, Ramirez said she didn’t have much experience with fermentation but enjoyed it.

When the gardening program first started in 2007, all of the participants were Hmong, Krauszer said. Now, class participants come from Iraq, Congo, south Sudan, Somalia, Myanmar and Bhutan, as well as Mexico, she said. Many lived in camps before coming to the U.S.

Richardville, a former supervisor at Spenard Roadhouse, organized the classes, which include not only cooking but English instruction and mentoring on customer service skills. The classes are aimed at refugees arriving to Anchorage without jobs, though some participants have gardened with the program for many years, Richardville said. He said that many refugees have experience with agriculture, but are unfamiliar with Alaska’s growing seasons and environment.

Following a summer harvest, he said, it also made sense to look at preserving food over the winter.

In the coming months, more growth is on the way. Working with a Mountain View-based nonprofit, the Anchorage Community Land Trust, Richardville and his colleagues plan to launch an urban farm for refugees.

Jalapeño Cilantro Sauce

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By Joanne — fifteen Spatulas

This is one of my “I want to put it on everything” sauces and it’s based off a wildly popular green sauce recipe from a Peruvian restaurant in NYC. It only takes 5-10 minutes to make, and is perfect with so many dishes!

Jalapeno Cilantro Sauce

Last week on my Instagram stories I shared a video of me making this sauce, and I put up a poll asking if people were interested in more simple sauce recipes on the blog.

The answer was a resounding YES!

As in, 97% said yes please. So here’s one of my favorites.

This Jalapeño Cilantro sauce is a riff on a green sauce that’s served at a chain of restaurants in NYC called Pio Pio.

The sauce has a bit of a cult following because it’s outrageously delicious, and many have tried to figure out their secret recipe to no avail.

Including me, ha.

When I was living in NYC I would order takeout of their sauce and try to figure it out. I also scoured the internet for clues and found this post from Serious Eats where they try to figure the sauce out as well.

They claimed that one of the secrets was a hot yellow chile paste from Peru, so I even ordered that from Amazon to try to nail the sauce.

But their copycat recipe wasn’t the same as Pio Pio, and not close. Shucks.

These days, I’ve settled down my sauce replicating ambitions and have accepted this sauce for the deliciousness that it is.

Because ordering a $10 jar of special Peruvian chile paste isn’t necessary here, and more isn’t always better.

This sauce is creamy, bright, and flavorful, and if you try it I really think you’ll LOVE it!

I find myself making it regularly and so far I haven’t tired of it, even after making it for the past couple years.

To make the sauce, place chopped jalapeños, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, mayonnaise, oil, salt, and pepper in a blender:

I like the sauce on the milder side, so I seeded and ribbed the jalapeños before chopping, but you can leave the seeds and ribs in if you prefer it spicy.

Blend it all up until the sauce is smooth and creamy:

Give it a taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Sometimes I prefer a little more lime.

I find the sauce tastes slightly better after it chills for a few hours, so it’s great to make ahead!

I actually keep a container of this stuff ready to go in the fridge, and it keeps for a good week.

This sauce is great drizzled on Crispy Smashed Potatoes, spooned onto Spice Rubbed Chicken, drizzled on veggies, and I even use it as a salad dressing sometimes. Enjoy!

Jalapeno Cilantro Sauce

PREP TIME 10 MINUTES

COOK TIME 0 MINUTES

TOTAL TIME 10 MINS

This sauce is based off the Pio Pio green sauce recipe and is one of my “I want to put it on everything sauces.” It only takes 5-10 minutes to make.

Ingredients

  •  3 jalapeños
  •  1 bunch fresh cilantro (2oz)
  •  5 medium cloves garlic (1.5 tbsp)
  •  1/2 cup mayonnaise
  •  2 tbsp fresh lime juice
  •  2 tbsp avocado oil
  •  1/2 tsp sea salt
  •  1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. For a milder sauce, remove the seeds and ribs from the jalapeños, then roughly chop them. For a spicier sauce, leave the seeds and ribs in, and simply chop the jalapeños. You should have about 1 cup of chopped jalapeños.
  2. Place the jalapeños into a blender along with all the remaining ingredients (I even include the cilantro stems), and blend on high for at least 30 seconds, until the sauce is smooth and creamy.
  3. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Enjoy!

by Joanne Ozug

Nutrition Information Serves 6, makes a little over 1 cup of sauce     ADJUST SERVINGS
Amount per serving: Calories 183kcal Calories from fat 176 Total Fat 20g Saturated Fat 3gCholesterol 8mg Sodium 116mg Carbohydrate 2g Dietary Fiber 1g Sugars 0g Protein 0g

Jalapeño Cilantro Sauce

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This is one of my “I want to put it on everything” sauces and it’s based off a wildly popular green sauce recipe from a Peruvian restaurant in NYC. It only takes 5-10 minutes to make, and is perfect with so many dishes!

 

Venison Empanadas

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These appetizers will be a hit at holiday parties

By JERRY DILSAVER   –   Carolina Sportsman

After their surfaces are brushed with egg wash, Empanadas should bake until golden brown.

As we approach the holidays, family gatherings, holiday dinners and all sorts of things involving food will arise, to which many sportsmen will generously share their fish and game. I enjoy this, but I suggest that you label any game or fish dish taken as such.

A surprising number of people still don’t care for game and fish. They generally don’t like the surprise of being told a dish they are complimenting is game or fish. Surprisingly, these realizations often bring on even more-stringent denials of the fine flavor and healthy aspects of wild fish and game. By labeling dishes, folks who appreciate your sharing can enjoy them, while others will be forewarned — and there might be leftovers to take home for snacks.

The first real brush with winter weather typically arrives in the Carolinas this month. Those cold days feel good in a duck blind or deer stand, listening to a pack of trailing dogs hot on the scent or following a pair of pointing dogs through the broom straw and brambles.

This recipe features venison sausage, but it could be made with regular ground venison or feral pig sausage. It can be made with domestic burger or sausage, too, if you get in a pinch or are told no game is allowed at a gathering you’ll be attending. It’s not as good, but it’s still better than most.

This is a good recipe to take to parties. I promise it won’t be like the five varieties of homemade pimiento cheese or multi-bean salads. This dish should be fairly unique. Once the word gets out it’s venison, your fellow sportsmen usually ensure that all you have to take home is an empty platter. You’ll probably get asked to make more for football bowl game parties later in the month, and that’s not a bad thing. You’ll get to enjoy them again.

Try Venison empanada appetizers

I like food with a little spice, and around Christmas, I try to present something that is tasty, yet unique, for parties around the holiday and college football bowl games to which many sportsmen receive invitations.

Empanadas are basically meat pies, and these are downsized to appetizer or finger food-size. They are tasty, and the biggest problem with them is overeating. I try to eat the leanest meats possible, and when it comes to sausage, that is game sausage.  These may be made with venison burger or sausage, feral pork or domestic burger or sausage. If you use feral or domestic pork, be sure to cook the meat fully.

My venison burger and sausage is mixed at 20-percent fat, so it cooks lean, with very little grease. In fact, I have to lightly spray non-stick cooking spray in the pan to keep it from sticking. If you use a higher percentage of fat in your venison or prepare this with domestic meat, take care to drain the fat as fully as possible so the bottom of the empanadas aren’t weak.

If you use domestic or venison burger, I would suggest considering using taco seasoning instead of fajita seasoning for more flavor. I try to reduce salt intake; numerous low-salt recipes for taco and fajita seasonings are available online. I haven’t found a commercial, low-salt fajita seasoning, but low-salt taco seasoning is available at many grocery stores.

Folks with milder palates might also consider substituting bell pepper for the jalapeno. I feel a single jalapeno is very mild, but some folks have suggested it adds too much heat. Others add a second or third jalapeno for a little kick. If you substitute bell peppers, the baby bells in assorted colors are usually milder and more tender than full-size bell peppers.

I cheat a little with these and use prepared biscuits rather than making dough. The concept of this column is easy cooking, and this makes it real easy. I would still suggest getting out the rolling pin and rolling the dough flat and thin. Otherwise, it rises too much and tries to open the empanadas. If you use Texas-sized biscuits, half of one will make a 3- to 4-bite empanada. However, it’s much easier to get the crust edge sealed with larger pieces of dough. The biscuits come in 10 packs, and this filling mixture will make three to four packages, depending on how full you stuff the empanadas.

Most folks like a dipping sauce with empanadas. I like them straight from the pan, too, but there are many simple options for adding dipping sauces. The simplest dipping sauces are sriracha and chipotle ranch salad dressings. Just pour some in a bowl and go. Mixing some Texas Pete Cha Sauce with a little mayonnaise makes a good sauce. Honey mustard, hot mustard and others are available to suit all tastes. If you have a favorite, give it a try.