Attention fellow pickle lovers: let’s be friends… and carpool to Mississippi together. Seriously, forget about Hawaii, I think I was supposed to be a native of Mississippi. Die hard pickle fans know there is no better place to get a pickle than the southern state… if you like your pickle marinated in Kool-Aid.
Locals will tell you that their relationship with pickles is… well, unique. Not only do they consume pickles in record numbers, they also batter, deep-fry them and dip them in mayonnaise. According to serious southern foodies, the Mississippi Delta, a region better known for its blues music, is the only place in the nation you can get a Koolickle. You’ve never heard of a Koolickle? (And you call yourself a true pickle connoisseur?) In the Delta you can roll into a gas station, fill up your car, then pick a Koolickle out of a giant mayonnaise jar by the cash register. The jars are filled with giant dill pickles soaking in Kool-Aid.
The sweet and sour treats are a local favorite. The Indianola-based Double Quick chain of convenience stores began selling Kool-Aid pickles in its shops about three years ago after company officials noticed them being sold by area children as school fundraisers and being stocked by ma and pop stores across the region. Double Quick dubbed them Koolickles and applied for a trademark. Now, according to company executives, each of the Double Quick’s 30 shops in the area sells about 25 Koolickles a day for 50 cents each.
Many locals make their own Koolickles using family recipes that involve brining dill pickles in sweetened Kool-Aid. (Bright red is the color of choice — which could mean your pickle has been soaking in strawberry, cherry or tropical punch flavored Kool-Aid.) That said it’s the tourist like me who buy Koolickles by the dozen to take home or gorge on in the car.
I can’t say I’m surprised to have found the home of the Koolickle in the Deep South. After all, the Southern United States is known for its pickling culture. Pickled okra. Pickled watermelon rind. Pickled mango, peaches, plums and, of course, deep-fried pickles.
I have to admit, my first experience with a breaded and fried pickle took place up north in Illinois at the Taste of Chicago back in 2001. A really good deep fried pickle isn’t soggy. It still has some element of crunch to it and the breading shouldn’t fall off after your first bite. Your deep fried pickle should taste salty, but shouldn’t be dripping with juice (the juice eats away at the breading and your left with a soggy mess).
While fried pickles are sold across the country, according to Southern Living Magazine you need to travel to the Hollywood Cafe in Tunica, Mississippi if you want to experience the fried pickle in its truest form. The restaurant claims to have been the first to make them.
Are you a pickle fan? (I am a die hard dill pickle fan.) How far would you travel to get a decent pickle?
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