Cathy Isom tells us about celebrating a snack that’s been around for thousands of years. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
National Pickle Day
Whether it’s a Dill, Gherkin, Cornichon, Brined, Kosher Dill, Polish, Hungarian, Lime, Bread and Butter, Swedish and Danish, or Kool-Aid Pickle – today you’ll want to eat them all day long because it’s National Pickle Day.
Every year Americans consume five-million two hundred thousand pounds of pickles.
The term pickle comes from the Dutch word pekel, meaning brine. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
The first annual pickle day was celebrated in New York City in 2001.
Should you find yourself eating a pickle and feel like posting on social media, use #national pickle day.