What’s the Story? Exploring the peppermint stick and pickle snack from the Chicago South Side
By Nick Kindelsperger – Contact Reporter – Chicago Tribune
To make the pickle and peppermint stick snack, take a chomp of (or slice) one end of the pickle, stab the middle with the peppermint stick until it goes almost all the way to the bottom, and then eat. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)
John T. Edge, food historian and director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, wrote in an email that he believes pickles and peppermint sticks are “somewhat common in the Mississippi Delta, which was the fount for much Chicago immigration.” Though he’s “not sure this transfer is explicitly Delta to Chicago,” he said it was definitely spread through the African-American community.
I quickly found that the snack dates to at least 1983. That’s when Vernon Garrett, an obscure blues musician, recorded a raunchy song called “Dill Pickle & Peppermint Stick” for ICA Recording Group. From what little I could find about Garrett, he was born in Omaha, Neb., in 1933, and moved to California later. I tried valiantly to track him down, contacting various blues enthusiasts, but I couldn’t even confirm whether he was still living or not.
Eventually, I was able to confirm that the history of the peppermint-stick pickle stretches back even further. Adrian Miller, a food historian and author of “Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time,” believes the combo dates to at least 1940. “I spoke to a lot of elderly people, and they said they did that as a kid,” he said. “I can’t tell you if it was around earlier than that.”
Miller actually ran across the combo while researching Kool-Aid pickles, which are made by soaking pickles in Kool-Aid mix. He was quick to add that peppermint sticks are just the beginning of the pickle and candy combo. You can use Jolly Ranchers or FireBalls, he says — “basically any candy.”
As John T. Edge put it, “From Kool-Aid pickles to peppermint-stick pickles, these foods are great examples of youthful ingenuity and experimentation.”
This story is the first in our “What’s the Story?” series, in which we answer your biggest questions about Chicago food and drink. Have a question? Ask it in the “What’s the Story?” box below.
nkindelsperger@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @nickdk
