FOODIE EMPIRE: Picklemaking workshop at Chabad in Riverside

BY LAURIE LUCAS / STAFF WRITER   –   The Press Enterprise

You don’t have to be Jewish to covet corned beef on rye with a fat pickle. And you don’t have to be Jewish to pop into a pickle-making workshop at 7 tonight at the Chabad Jewish Community Center, 3579 Arlington Ave., No. 100, Riverside.

Pickle maker Leon Stern, 70, of Running Springs, will guide you through the alchemy of transforming Melissa’s cucumbers – an organic brand – with salt water and spices into pucker powering pickles.

“Simple and healthy, using the best ingredients,” he said.

Raised in a small Jewish community in South Africa, Stern learned how to make everything, including pickles and furniture, from his Latvian-born family in the traditional, Old World style.

As a software writer, Stern is no Luddite.

“Everything I know about technology and the modern world, doing things the old way adds a little balance,” he said.

The workshop costs $25 and will include making sauerkraut and naturally fermented ginger soda. Leave happy with a natural drink and a jar of kosher pickles. Wait for the pickles to mature and just add corned beef, mayo and rye.

For more information, or if you’re interested in a bread-making workshop, call Chabad at 951-222-2005 or visit jewish riverside.com