Pick of the Pickles

DZ Pickling

P.O. Box 461652

Los Angeles, Calif. 90046

(800) PICKLE-5

Mastercard, Visa Some persnickety people pick produce and proudly pickle it themselves. Others prefer to pick up the phone and place an order with a professional pickling perfectionist.

That would be 43-year-old Zev Dorman, owner of DZ Pickling, who has been making kosher dills, he says, since he was 3 years old. Using his great-great-grandfather’s recipe, the pickle pro ferments the fresh cucumbers without vinegar. There are no added sugars, coloring, or oils either--only chunks of garlic, fresh dill and sea salt in a properly cloudy brine.

The company also makes a hot Mexicali version in which red chiles have been added to the brine. And, seasonally, usually July through December, pickled green tomatoes are available in both flavors. The pickles are not cheap, though. At $13 for a half-gallon, these pickles are only for very particularly particular people.