I'm kind a pickle freak although I'm particular. I'm not so into bread & butter or other sweet pickles. I like the salty, sour and spicy pickles the best -- namely fresh garlic, spicy, dills and crock-fermented dills. Just made some of the former, in fact, and can see them on the kitchen counter from where I'm typing at the kitchen table -- my studio is too hot today.
Anyway, a few weeks ago I came home to a lovely package on my front porch -- two tasty jars of MoonBrine Pickles courtesy of the pickler himself -- Stew Golomb -- a former elementary school teacher from Boston who moved to Portland a little more than a year ago. Thanks Stew!
I love them. We've eaten most of them as is but have added some to sandwiches too. They're tasty fermented pickles with a little vinegar added for good measure. By the way, some of my favorite local pickles are Picklopolis Pickles. Picklopolis' Mr. Briney Barber is a very good friend of mine so I don't want to let a pickle post go without a shout-out. He knows how much I love him.
Yummmmmmm!
I recently got to ask Stew some questions via email about MoonBrine Pickles and here's what he had to say -- sometimes abbreviated...
Can you give me a short/sweet explanation of your process. Fermented and then vinegar added?
MoonBrine Pickles are 100% fermented (lacto-fermented). The cucumbers/vegetables start in a pail of brine, consisting of water, salt and a small amount of (gluten free) distilled vinegar. The pails sit at room temperature for a couple weeks until the vegetables are fully fermented. The pickles are then packed and refrigerated in quarts for retail and pail for restaurants.
You have a pickle tasting room/space?
I do have a little shop. I roll my pickle bar out of my kitchen and sell right there in the basement of the Ford Building at 2505 SE 11th Ave. in Portland. People seem really into discovering it. I call it the MoonBrine Shop N' Snacketeria.
There you'll find quart glass jars of our fermented MoonBrine Super Dill, Pretty Hot All Natural Pickles, MoonBrine Sour Mash (Relish) and our MoonBrine Brine, a magical product all on its own. Rotating offerings of deliciousness also include half-sour cucumber pickles, pickled green tomatoes, pickled cauliflower, pickled carrots, pickled cabbage and whatever else comes off the farm and lands in the brine.
MoonBrine Snacketeria hours: Monday – Thursday 11am-3:30pm. Off-hours by appointment if you email email Stew at info@MoonBrine.com.
Where can folks purchase MoonBrine Pickles? Can you give me a price list of various types if bought direct?
Currently, in Portland the pickles are available at the shop - all quarts are $5. Folks can also buy the pickles at KnowThyFood.com which is a food buying club in town. Ford Food & Drink and Detour Cafe use the pickles on some of their plates and in their Bloody Marys. More stores and restaurants are on the horizon and there are five stores and two restaurants in Boston currently carrying the pickles.
MoonBrine Pickles www.moonbrine.com
Further evidence of my pickle obsession -- me and friends at Kenny & Zuke's Pickle Throwdown earlier this summer.