Arkansas: Stalking the Fried Dill Pickle
Editor's note: Occasionally what looks at first glance to be a conventional guidebook transcends the genre in surprising ways. John T. Edge's Southern Belly is just such a read, which is why I'm pleased that he has allowed us to excerpt selected items from it on Serious Eats, where they appear every other week. —Ed Levine
Photograph from Dyobmit on Flickr
By John T. Edge | Southerners have had a long love affair with all things fried. We eat fried chicken by the tub, savor fried oysters drenched in hot sauce, munch fried okra like popcorn, and still relish a mess of fried chitlins now and again. But dill pickles? Fried? Despite the empirical truth of their vinegary and greasy goodness, there are some things that give even a Southerner reason to pause.
And so it was when I first encountered fried dill pickles. I paused—long enough to ask three questions: Why would anyone do such a thing to a perfectly good pickle? Who was the first brave soul to drop a mess of pickles in hot oil? And, when did this great event first take place? Simple enough questions—or so I thought.
Two restaurants claim to have been the originators of this gastronomic oddity. According to the owners of the Hollywood Café in Robinsonville, Mississippi, fried dill pickles made their debut in 1969 when a desperate cook, confronted by a dining room full of patrons, a vat of bubbling oil, and a scarcity of catfish, reached for an industrial-sized jar of dill pickle chips. The story goes that he rolled them in the batter intended for the catfish, served them to a crowd of incredulous but famished diners, and then sat back to savor the praise.
It's a good story, parroted by many. But, according to Bob Austin of Atkins, Arkansas, "It's a damn lie." Bob claims to have invented the fried dill pickle in 1960 while operating the Duchess Drive In, directly across the street from the pickle plant in Atkins. "I had an inspiration one day and just started working on the batter," he says. "Staring out the window at that pickle plant all day, your mind gets to wandering. So I sliced some pickles and fixed up a batter. My batter beats all. And I'm not telling anybody what's in it. I'll sell it to the right person, but nobody's getting it for free. The rest, they're all imposters. Nobody has been able to duplicate it since."
A few years back the Duchess closed. Bob retired. These days, those "original" pickles are available only during Picklefest, Atkins' annual spring celebration, when the local VFW hall sets up a booth and sells them on the street. "Yep, they're the only ones that I let use my recipe," says Bob. "That's your one chance if you want to try the real thing."
Aktins Picklefest
Occurs in May each year; visit the Arkansas Festival Association for exact dates
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16 Comments:
good fried pickles in NE:
CT: eli cannon's, middletown
MA: amherst brewing co, amherst
goodbyeohio at 1:20PM on 05/03/08
Chain restaurant that sells fried pickles:
Cheeseburger in Paradise
And they are wickedly addictive
wookie at 1:34PM on 05/03/08
I'll never forget my first fried dill pickle at a now-closed restaurant. They do serve these in the Dallas area at a cajun-type place called Dodie's.
pookywookyster at 1:58PM on 05/03/08
I just love fried pickles, no matter who invented them. I get them at the Dutchess County Fair (NY) with horseradish dipping sauce. Can't wait for the county fair!
ride&cook at 2:11PM on 05/03/08
Those of you in NYC can get good deep fried pickles at RARE. But they don't use pickle chips. Seems to me they were either small whole dills, or spears (it's been a few years since I went there). Very yummy.
LoCo at 4:14PM on 05/03/08
Haven't tried this food before. I'm sure they are good like you all say but I like crunchy cold pickles on a hamburger or mixed with tuna and onion.
:-)
paris221966 at 5:37PM on 05/03/08
OMG. I love fried pickles, but haven't had them in years.
The restaurant at the Fairway View Golf Club off College Dr. in Baton Rouge had some great fried pickles. (I think that area has fallen into disrepair and that restaurant may no longer exist.)
IMO, the Cock of the Walk chain restaurant in Jackson, MS has the best fried pickles I've ever eaten.
GumbeauxGal at 7:31PM on 05/03/08
I first had fried pickle chips 30 years ago when I was a kid, when Sonic Drive-Ins were relegated to small towns. A few Sonic locations here and there had Pickle-O's and I was hooked from the first bite. They were eventually phased out as a regular menu item at those random Sonic locations and are now only available when the mother corporation decides that they should be a limited-time offering at all Sonics. That only happens every couple of years.
Fried pickles sound like a weird thing, but they're really good. Give them a try if you get the chance, whether at Sonic or otherwise.
MelsDiner at 7:40PM on 05/03/08
If you like fried pickles or fried green tomatotes you ought to try fried cucumbers . Sonic is where I also had my first fried pickle O's
jag54 at 7:17AM on 05/04/08
Not great quality, but you can get them as a menu item at Hooters.
exvaxman at 1:13PM on 05/04/08
My mother, my daughter, a friend of ours, and I go to Hooters every week for a good helping of fried pickles. We LOVE them. Their dipping sauce for their fried pickles is top notch. We love HOOTERS fried pickles!!
lilyannasmom at 3:55PM on 05/04/08
I love May festival season. There are fried pickles at Toad Suck Daze, but that's winding down right this minute. But I think I can manage a jaunt up to Atkins for a less congested festival.
What I want to know is whose pickles are they using? The Atkins pickle plant has (sadly) closed.
And it's not like preferring fried okra to popcorn is a bad thing.
More on Atkins friend dill pickles here: http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2922
nita at 5:07PM on 05/04/08
yum. had my first fried pickle in Yazoo City, MS a year ago... they are awesome. Ill never order them up north or at a chain. i loved what i ate down in MS! i learned that deep-fried catfish is good for your soul and palate! thank you MS!
cosmic charlie at 12:01AM on 05/05/08
Though they do have them at Cheeseburger in Paradise, they are not very good. They don't use the right batter, so they come out gritty somehow. But here in GA, there are plenty of places serving them up--Fox Bros BBQ being my favorite so far, but I have heard good things about the ones at The Glenwood.
brittj8585 at 9:03AM on 05/05/08
I've been eating them all of my life! They were always on the Toot's menu in Murfreesboro, TN. Best ones in Orlando are at Jocakamo's New Orleans Kitchen!
Side note: I only like the chips. I've had the fried spears several times and they miss out on the crunch factor and tend to get soggy quickly.
jcrisco at 9:41AM on 05/05/08
They've had them for years at Penguin Drive-in in Charlotte NC. They're served with a spiced mayo type of dip - very tasty.
phaelon56 at 11:12AM on 05/05/08