Food Notes: ‘Pickle addict’ wins Akron contest

By Katie Byard  Beacon Journal staff writer

Yeah, yeah, yeah … I relished the assignment.

And it was a cuke contest.

Those puns are courtesy of Beacon Journal colleague Jim Mackinnon, about my task of helping to judge this year’s Pickle Making Contest, organized by the nonprofit Downtown Akron Partnership.

This was the fifth year for the contest, held in conjunction with the Friday farmers market at Lock 3 park downtown. Most contestants had dropped off their pickled this and that at the Downtown Akron Partnership office; others showed up Friday with their entries.

Delila Owens, a professor at the University of Akron, was one of the few contestants who showed up for judging, and she was one of the winners, snagging first place in the “sweet” pickle category.

The other winners were: dill pickles, Dave Clay of Richfield; hot pickles, Chris Robertson, Akron; and other pickled vegetable, Bob Epling, Green.

It was a blind judging, so Owens’ presence didn’t sway the judges.

I’ve included her recipe below. She calls her entry “Sweet and Sour Lime Pickles,” and like many refrigerator pickles, it is easy. You put cucumbers and the other ingredients into a container (Owens used a plastic one-quart container) and you let it sit in the fridge. I’m going to try it with some beans I have on hand.

Owens did let us know she was there, and made it clear that she was hoping to win. It was a low-key affair, with myself and three other judges sitting at a table under a small tent at the market, sampling pickled this and that from little plastic cups.

After the contest, Owens told me she’s a “pickle addict.” This was her first pickling contest.

At UA, Owens is an associate professor of school counseling and counselor education. Outside of work, she loves to cook and loves pickles. “I eat them daily,” she said.

The other judges were Bryan Edwards from the Akron office of the Economic and Community Development Institute; Heather Linebarger, a senior associate at accounting firm Bruner Cox; and Beth Magalski, branch manager of Citizens Bank downtown.

The next contest at Lock 3 is the Salsa Making Contest at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 4. Salsa should be turned in Sept. 1-3 at the Downtown Akron Partnership office at Greystone Hall, 103 S. High St. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Registration forms and rules are available at www.downtownakron.com/marketor by calling Anthony Long at 330-374-7676 or emailingalong@downtownakron.com.

Here’s Owens’ recipe:

Sweet and Sour

Lime Pickles

About 7 pickling cucumbers or two “giant” cucumbers

1 lime (remove peel and chunk up “for the flavor kick,” Owens says)

3 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt; more as needed

1 cup cider vinegar

1 cup water

Place chunks of lime in bottom of plastic container. Bring sugar, vinegar and water to boil in a saucepan. Let cool and pour over sliced cucumbers in container. Sprinkle salt on top. Refrigerate overnight.

Being a beet fan, my favorite pickled vegetable was David Boughton’s beets. Boughton, of Akron, sells produce from the family’s Copley Township farm each Friday at the farmers market at Lock 3. The market is open from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Fridays through Sept. 11.

Boughton said he added dried orange zest to the pickled beets recipe from the Ball canning jar folks: www.freshpreserving.com/recipes.