Monday, August 24, 2009

Leafy thiefy

The secret ingredient to crisp pickles is a grape leaf in every jar.
Alas, the veg stand that I bought cucumbers from was all out. I had
the great idea to stop at chateau st. michelle on the way home and
"visit" their decorative grapevines. Thanks mom, for being my
lookout. Time to make pickles!

3 comments:

constructobot said...

hey- I can send a whole bunch in the mail to you

.... if freshness isn't an issue

Anonymous said...

Why do grape leaves make for great pickles

sarah said...

Grape leaves contain a natural inhibitor for the softening action caused by pectinolytic and cellulolytic enzymes. Most of the time the tip is passed down as a kind of pickled old-wives tale, but there is actually science behind it.