National Pickle Day is observed annually on November 14. It may be a Dill, Gherkin, Cornichon, Brined, Kosher Dill, Polish, Hungarian, Lime, Bread and Butter, Swedish and Danish, or Kool-Aid Pickle. Whichever is your choice, eat them all day long.
- 2300 BC – For thousands of years, pickles have been a popular food dating back to 2030 B.C. At that time, cucumbers were imported from India to the Tigris Valley where they were first preserved and eaten as pickles.
- 10th Century – Dill, a central ingredient in many brine mixtures used to culture cucumbers, arrives in Western Europe from Sumatra.
- 1940s – The United States government produces 40% of U.S. pickle output as they include pickles in rations for the armed forces.
- 2000 – the Philadelphia Eagles credited their win over the Dallas Cowboys in smoldering heat due to drinking ice-cold pickle juice.
- 2001 – The first annual National Pickle Day celebrations take place in New York City.
- The term pickle comes from the Dutch word pekel, meaning brine. In the United States, the word pickle typically refers to a pickled cucumber.
- Pickles are a great snack, low in calories and a good source of vitamin K, though they can be high in sodium.
- When served on a stick at festivals, fairs or carnivals, pickles are sometimes known as “stick pickles”.
- A rising trend in the United States is deep-fried pickles which have a breading or batter surrounding the pickle spear or slice.
- Cleopatra attributed her good looks to her diet of pickles.
- Julius Caesar fed pickles to his troops believing that they lent physical and spiritual strength.
- More than 67% of all households eat pickles. American households in particular purchase pickles every 53 days!
- The phrase “in a pickle” was first introduced by Shakespeare in his play, The Tempest. The quotes read, “How cam’st thou in this pickle?” and “I have been in such a pickle”
- Approximately 100,000 to 125,000 acres are devoted to growing pickling cucumbers in the United States.
- In the U.S., pickles are made in 30 of the 50 states with Michigan and North Carolina making the most pickles.
- Kool-aid pickles are made by soaking dill pickles in strong Kool-aid and are very popular in parts of Mississippi.
- A town in Michigan that claims to be the Christmas Pickle Capital of the World holds an annual pickle parade led by the Grand Dillmeister.
- You can hear the crunch of a good pickle at 10 paces.
- According to the U.S. Supreme Court, pickles are technically a “fruit” of the vine (like tomatoes), but they are generally known as a vegetable.
- During WWII the U.S. Government tagged 40 percent of all pickle production for the ration kits of the armed forces.
- The Department of Agriculture estimates that the average American eats 8.5 lbs of pickles a year!
- In Connecticut, in order for a pickle to officially be considered a pickle, it must bounce.
- George Washington had collected over 400 variations of pickles.
- Elvis Presley was a huge fan of fried pickles.
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