Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Pickle my fancy

A lot of people I know don't like pickles. Whether they're the sweet kind or the sour variety, they find pickles an unnecessary evil in a sandwich. In contrast, I find them a wonderful addition.

Even as a young boy, pickles have always tickled my fancy. It helped that there was always a bottle of pickles inside our fridge. Sometimes it would be mixed pickles, other times it would be pickle relish, and most of the time, it would be sweet pickles. I vividly remember how I'd get a fork, open the bottle, get one whole pickle and snack on it while watching cartoons.

Ah yes, sweet, pickle-tasting memories of childhood.

When I was in college and working at McDonald's, all my crew friends would set aside their pickles and stuff them all in my sandwich. Despite it getting a bad rap, I liked the super sour taste and crunchy texture of the McDonald's pickle. Too bad they don't put pickles in their burgers anymore. (Which is ok since I don't eat burgers anyway.)

Nowadays, I get my pickle fix from my favorite sandwich place - Subway! I'm not sure why, but I'm addicted to their pickles. Whenever I order my usual tuna or seafood sub, my request would always be "pickles. Lots and lots and lots of pickles!"

If I don't frequent the megamall branch of Subway, it's because of the fact that they don't have pickles. (Boo!) I've asked the sandwich maker a couple of times, and his standard answer is always: "Wala pa kasi sir, baka sa susunod meron na." But 4 visits after, they still don't have pickles.

While noshing on a tuna sub, I realize that their pickles taste a lot like the pickles from my childhood. The same sliced pickles that would always be at the bottom shelf, in that clear glass jar with the white tin cap. So with every bite of the Subway pickle, I'm suddenly back in Scout Gandia as a little boy.

Yup, I think that's the secret.

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