Comments on: Lime Pickle and Peanut Butter Sandwiches.

By: harry b

harry b — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:32:15 +0000

Thanks geoffrey—that’s interesting, I just bought some Ashoka’s mango pickle last week on the grounds that it looked at least as good as Pataks (my favourite mango pickle). So now I shall go all out to find their lime pickle (well, “all out” meaning I’ll scour Madison and the web; even I think a trip to 28th and Lexington would be excessively self-indulgent from here).

By: Geoffrey

Geoffrey — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 03:57:38 +0000

Okay, this sounded so interesting I got two brands – Ashoka’s Rajasthani Lime Relish and Priya’s Lime Pickle.

The Priya was far too hot and dry for my taste. But the Ashoka’s relish was excellent – a really distinctive flavor, sweet and tangy.

I got it in NYC, at 28th and Lexington.

By: Uncle Kvetch

Uncle Kvetch — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 16:40:24 +0000

In the US look for ‘all natural’ or unemulsified brands that have oil floating on top (to be mixed in). Keep it in the fridge or risk having it go rancid.

Hmmm. I buy all-natural all the time and I don’t refrigerate it, and I’ve never had a problem with rancidity. But then that may be because I eat the stuff too fast for that to happen.

Interesting to see so many Brits talking about peanut butter. Is this a recent development? I remember having to explain the concept of PB&J to a British friend about 20 years ago…she was horrified. (And I find my French acquaintances still tend to recoil from PB in general.)

By: vivian

vivian — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 01:22:02 +0000

Peanuts are already full of oil; good PB requires roasting and salt and that’s it (and I can do without the salt). In the US look for ‘all natural’ or unemulsified brands that have oil floating on top (to be mixed in). Keep it in the fridge or risk having it go rancid. You can also smoosh your own in a food processor or grinder (and even add other nuts for variety.

BTW, PB and apricot butter (or jam) is great. It doesn’t have to be grape jelly, use a fruit with flavor.

Chris (or anyone) – what sort of Stilton – white or blue? What other kinds of cheese for the mild (not hot) lime pickle?

By: vivian

vivian — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 01:16:06 +0000

Thanks for the recipe! Never tried lime pickle, but local markets carry Sharwoods items. As an utter wimp about capsaicin, I hope their definition of mild is not ironically postcolonial.

Making Light often carries citrus recipes of all sorts – perhaps you could post a request on one of their open threads, or send out a batsignal on those secret superblogger networks… Google autocompleted my search for “lime pickle recipes” so someone who knew what it should taste like could find that useful…

Of course, UK bread is really spectacular, but I shall investigate.

By: The Modesto Kid

The Modesto Kid — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 15:15:09 +0000

I would also be very surprised to see non-roasted peanuts being used in the fresh-ground peanut butter machines. Peanut butter from raw nuts would taste extremely bland.

By: soubzriquet

soubzriquet — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 14:11:14 +0000

14: I think your problem may be that Kraft is horrible, and Pataks is mediocre. I’m surprised at your Ontario comment though, are you in a really remote or small part? You can get pretty much anything in Toronto, unsurprisingly, but beyond that I had no trouble finding Indian chutneys etc. in places like London, K-W, Kingston, … best bet is to look for a small Indian grocer (worth the trip just for the spices!)

By: josh

josh — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 06:55:23 +0000

tim, i think you’re thinking of aflatoxins, which grow on peanuts that have been improperly stored. It’s apparently a great problem in many developing countries, but (supposedly) rare in developed nations, where peanuts are less likely to be improperly stored—or mouldy peanuts are less likely to actually get consumed. Given that one can’t necessarily know whether the peanuts used in pb were rotten or not, I suppose it’s best to be careful; still, I don’t think that getting aflatoxin poisoning is a certainty, or even a great likelihood, from ‘raw’ pb.

By: danny

danny — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 05:55:17 +0000

Lime pickle alone tastes yummy! But if u manage to get the peanut butter its the recipe to relish. Quick to prepare and good to eat. Go to some Indian grocery shop and pick up your bottle of pickle.

By: saurabh

saurabh — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 21:25:52 +0000

No store-bought lime pickle compares to the home-made stuff. They’re all crap, pretty much, so over-spiced that you can barely taste the individual flavors of whatever is being pickled. I’d suggest trying the above linked recipe, although when my grandma makes them she usually lets them pickle quite a bit longer than that.

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 20:15:03 +0000

Obligatory private health warning:
Chow down on yer fresh-ground pb all you like, but make damn sure the peanuts are roasted: there’s a virus that the raw ones carry which makes you sick as hell off the bat and then gives you cancer, to boot (so my cancer biologist wife tells me).

By: The Modesto Kid

The Modesto Kid — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 18:50:31 +0000

Here in the US (at least in the northeast), a lot of health food stores sell fresh-ground, just a machine with peanuts in it, you put a dollar in and it grinds some up for you. Can be quite good if you salt it properly and don’t let it sit in your fridge too long a time before you eat it. Is there anything like that available in England?

By: Hester

Hester — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 15:45:35 +0000

I can get Whole Earth crunchy pb at my local Tesco.

I consider the point of lime pickle to be to take the inside layer of your mouth off, though: my favourite Indian restaurant is quite liberal with the birds eye chillies.

By: rich

rich — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:28:36 +0000

I like Asda SmartPrice peanut butter, because it’s made from peanuts, oil, and salt. Pretty much everything else – especially American brands – seem to have added sugar which make them far too sweet.

There are a number of FairTrade peanut butters as well, which are similar.

By: Simon Ross

Simon Ross — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 09:39:28 +0000

As a big PB consumer, I’ve been very satisfied with the Whole Earth crunchy (available in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, as well as health food shops).