November 2006
Holiday Gifts
by Celia Cheng
Wheelhouse Pickles
Oh my god! Brooklyn-based Wheelhouse Pickles not only produces amazing tasting products, but they also have a great sense of humor. I keep cracking up just reading the product descriptions on the website. For example, here’s an excerpt from the About Us page, “Fair warning — if you’re the kind of person who has great difficulty handling exposure to things once thought impossible, this website is not for you. However, if you are a pickle lover or a lover of pickle-related Internet content, and can cope with having your mind blown repeatedly, then venture forth…” The site is also great because you can buy the pickles directly online! How many small businesses have good products, a fun loving website that works with real content and e-Commerce all set up?!
The Wheelhouse 8 is the “permanent collection”: Bread & Butter Pickles, Top Shelf Beets, Sour Barrel Cucumbers, Big Bang Okra, Irma’s Pears, Full Contact Sport Peppers, Gin n’ Turnips and Horseradish Spiked Wax Beans. For those who are more adventurous, there’s the Wheelhouse Whims, experimental or small-batch pickles made from seasonal local produce. So basically, the Wheelhouse 8 are the tried and true creations and the Wheelhouse Whims are part of the experimenting process to find new varieties. So far, I’ve tried the permanent Big Bang Okra and Top Shelf Beets and they are fun and delicious! I love okra but have never had pickled ones but these taste great and would go really well with beer. The beets are pickled with fennel and exude a complexity in flavor that makes me want to keep eating them. The great thing about these beets, as my sister pointed out, is that unlike other pickled beets that lose their crunch and become soft and rubbery, Wheelhouse pickled beets keep the solid texture that is so fulfilling to bite into.
Jon Orren started Wheelhouse Pickles last year, though he’s been pickling his whole life. And he’s only in his twenties! I can’t wait to taste the great variety of pickled goods he’ll be making in his forties.
Wheelhouse 8 and Whims are $8.50 a pint. Also check out the Wheelhouse Merch section on the website, at least for the hilarious comments the pickle mascot makes as he pops on the screen intermittently, trying to sell t-shirts.
