The Pickled City: The Story of New York Pickles

Mulder and van Ravestein (The Sour City), heads of the marketing firm Mattmo, trace in this enjoyable history how the pickle has shaped New York City’s culinary culture. Pickling began in ancient Mesopotamia as a means of preserving foodstuffs in a hot climate, later becoming a core part of Roman gastronomy and spreading across the globe via the Silk Road and maritime trade routes. It became a prominent part of American cuisine when an influx of Jews emigrated from Russia, Germany, Austria, and Poland, to lower Manhattan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Bringing with them recipes and know-how, immigrant Jews made pickles in cramped tenements, shaping a thriving deli culture on Manhattan’s Lower East Side with such establishments as Russ & Daughters and Katz’s Delicatessen, and inspiring pickle companies across the country. Filled with fun facts, eye-catching photos and other ephemera (including a map of New York City’s pickle vendors and stores from 1895 to present), it makes for both a colorful food history and a testament to immigrants’ contributions to American cuisine. Readers will want to take a bite. (Mar.)