The answer to the gherkin problem

"Gherkins are a smaller kind of cucumber that have been pickled, while pickles are cucumbers that have been pickled in brine or vinegar.

Gherkins are pickles, whereas pickles are not gherkins, they may just be pickling cucumbers."

Difference Between

Does that make sense to you? It doesn't really to me. I think they are just saying (well elsewhere) that gherkins are a smaller different cucumber, but both kinds are pickled - maybe with different liquids and herbs/spices, but basically the same. So I think I'm just going to go on size - with cornichons being smaller again. I think I did cornichons before somewhere and I probably mentioned gherkins then. Anyway it's all irrelevant for this post which is about what to do with the even larger jar than the one in the picture of European style cucumbers - which I think are generally known as dill pickles and are larger again - almost as big as a Lebanese cucumber and a bit like those snack packs you can get for lunchboxes. Really all three taste very similar although I think the smaller the cucumber the more crunch there is.

And before I go any further I should say that I saw one, somewhat disappointed, Aldi customer saying that his European style cucumbers had lots of holes in them from maggots - I can't quite remember now whether the maggots were there or not. Anyway I am somewhat put off and shall certainly be checking each cucumber before I use it. I even have a vague memory of seeing some small holes in one of them. Though I don't remember any maggots. I guess when pickling a whole cucumber you wouldn't know what was inside. Anyway - beware. And if I ever think of pickling any of these big/small cucumbers I shall be slicing them lengthways before I pickle. Lots of people seem to do this in their recipes anyway. And they look a bit prettier I think.

The Americans were the stars with the suggestions of what to do with pickles, which is maybe not that surprising. I think this is essentially an Eastern European and Jewish thing, and obviously there were a lot of Eastern European and Jewish migrants to America back in the 19th century. I did not see anything from England - or Australia either. And there are an amazing number of things, it turns out, that you can do with dill pickles and also the pickle juice. One site even had suggestions for how to clean out the jar so that it doesn't retain the smell (and taste), and also what to do with the jar as well, apart from reusing it to make your own pickles.

"If you dump some baking soda in [the jar] and allow it to sit for a few days with the lid on, the pickle odor will go away. I use these jars to hold pasta, rice, flour, sugar, etc. I have painted them, decoupaged them, and covered [them] with collages. They make great coin banks, can store just about anything, and can even be used for terrariums! The possibilities are endless." Loretta - HomeTalk message board

And also, because the juice is acidic you can use it to boost acidity in the soil if you are growing plants that like acidic soil (don't ask me what they are), or to kill weeds like dandelions and thistles.

So since we are talking about the juice that's left, let's start there.

• It is a good tenderising brine for meat - just whisk it with other flavours such as mustard and brush on to the meat before leaving it to marinate before roasting or frying. The possibilities are endless here really.

• it will clean the copper bases of pots and pans - don't have any to them so that one is not for me.

• Then there are the drinks:

"Invented in a Brooklyn dive bar, the " pickleback shot" involves taking a shot of whiskey (preferably, of bourbon), then chasing it with a shot of pickle juice. The flavors play off each other beautifully, giving you a robust one-and-done drink packed with enough electrolytes to make it an equally-excellent choice as a "hair of the dog" libation in the morning." Taylor Tobin - Insider

A couple of sites seemed to think it the juice and/or some sliced pickle would be good in a Bloody Mary.

And another one suggested a splash in a Martini.

As to food - I gleaned most of the suggestions from five sites - Brit & Co., The Things.com, PureWow, Taste of Home, Insider and Real Simple so if you want to see more pick one and have a look. I'm just going to give you a few that appealed to me.

First though - as well as the Eastern European connection there also seemed to be quite a few that were Cuban inspired. I tried to find out why, but think it is connected to just one snack - the Cuban sandwich, whose origins are also a bit obscure, but most likely come from the exchange of people between Florida and Cuba. On the left is the Cuban sandwich - I think it's ham, pork, cheese, dill pickle and mustard, and on the right are Cuban sliders which are a variation of the sandwich. So I don't think it's really a Cuban thing - more a thing that some Cuban Americans took to Cuba.

And here in no particular order are some things that caught my eye - first a relish and hummus - yes hummus - and I have to say the hummus looks particularly good.

Then there are two soups - Polish dill pickle soup with smoked ham, Creamy dill and spinach chickpea soup.

Then perhaps some Dill pickle bread to go with the soup.

Most of the recipes I found were variations on salads and sandwiches. although pizza cropped up every now and then, and hamburgers - but then you are really into just using it as an extra flavouring rather than being the main player. But I did also see pizza, a salad dressing using the juice, a seasoning mixture that somehow included the dill pickles. Suffice to say there were lots.

To finish, a couple of not very healthy but quite tempting nibbles - Cajun fried pickles and Dill Pickle Fries - it was more or less just a matter of how you cut the pickles.

I might try the soups, and the hummus some time. Maybe the marinade.