Famous Dave's Sweet and Spicy Pickles

Home reconstruction

There is a shortcut here that sounds like cheating and is genuinely the right method: you start from a jar of ordinary dill pickles.

You are not making pickles. You are re-brining pickles that already exist — draining the sour brine, packing them back with sugar and spice, and letting them sit. This is how most bread-and-butter-style sweet pickles are made at home, and it takes twenty minutes instead of three days.

Why the shortcut is correct

The cucumber has already been cured. Its cell structure has taken up salt and acid, which is the slow part. Adding sugar afterwards is straightforward — sugar draws liquid out and its own syrup goes in, and that happens in a day or two in the fridge.

Starting from raw cucumbers, you would need to cure them first and then sweeten them. Same result, three days longer.

What you need

• 1 large jar (about 1 litre) whole dill pickles, drained
• 400 g granulated sugar
• 2 tsp crushed red chilli flakes
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp celery seeds
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 60 ml cider vinegar

Whole pickles rather than pre-sliced. Slices go limp — they have too much surface area for the amount of flesh.

Method

1. 1. Drain the pickles and discard the brine. Do not rinse them; the residual sour is part of the balance.
2. 2. Slice into thick coins, about 1 cm. Thinner and they go soft.
3. 3. In a bowl, mix the sugar, chilli flakes, mustard seeds, celery seeds, garlic, peppercorns and vinegar.
4. 4. Layer the pickle slices and the sugar mixture back into the clean jar, alternating so the sugar is distributed rather than sitting on top.
5. 5. Seal and refrigerate.
6. 6. Turn the jar upside down every few hours for the first day. The sugar dissolves into the liquid the pickles give up, and turning is what moves it around. This is the step people skip and then wonder why the bottom is syrup and the top is dry.
7. 7. Ready in 48 hours. Better at a week.

There is no cooking and no heating anywhere in this.

Adjusting the heat

Two teaspoons of chilli flakes gives a noticeable warmth behind the sweetness, not a burn. For hotter, go to a tablespoon, or add two sliced jalapeños or a teaspoon of cayenne.

The heat builds over the first week as it infuses, so judge it at day seven rather than day two.

Getting them crisp

Thick slices. A centimetre minimum.

Whole pickles as the starting point, not pre-sliced.

Keep them cold throughout. These are refrigerator pickles, never heated, and they are not shelf stable.

Storing

Refrigerated only. Six weeks. They are not canned and must not be treated as though they are.

The syrup that forms is worth keeping — it is good in a salad dressing or a marinade after the pickles are gone.