It's a pickle

I excitedly opened the carry-out box containing my turkey avocado bacon cheese tomato and lettuce sandwich from Harbor East Deli and instantly frowned. There was nothing wrong with the sandwich; it looked incredible, stacked high with meat. No, it was the skinny green particle lurking under my sandwich – the pickle. I feared for my sandwich, terrified that pickle juice had leaked into the bread. No one wants a soggy pickle flavored sandwich. I lunged for the pickle and threw it across the stone wall I was sitting on. There was now a safe distance between me and the smelly pickle.

I can’t explain my aversion to pickles, it’s just one of those foods I’ve always hated. The pickle is actually just a pickled cucumber, meaning it’s been soaked and fermented in brine or vinegar. The taste of the pickle depends on what you soak it in – in addition to brine and vinegar it can be soaked in garlic or lime.

I also discovered that Americans consume an unbelievable 9 pounds of pickles per person each year(http://www.virtuowl.com/beauty/vinegar-beauty.htm).

I have to blame my aversion on some unrecalled traumatic childhood experience with the pickle. I can remember a place in Charlotte, NC my parents would always take me to, Phils Deli. With every sandwich came a pickle. Even my favorite, the grilled cheese. I was always so upset when my grilled cheese tasted like anything but cheese, in this case, pickle. Could this be the reason?

Pickle fans: If you're in the mood for the fattest pickle I've ever seen, check out Attman's on Lombard Street.