pickles & cole slaw on the side

[kimmyb72]

i for one love the pickle & cole slaw that you get with a sandwich. however, a girlfriend of mine who used to work at a diner, said to NEVER eat them. i didn't ask for the details but i got the feeling it wasn't pretty. sometimes i take her advice, sometimes i throw caution to the wind. i think it depends on what the pickle looks like. if it's nice and green and crisp, i will eat it. if it's limp and doesn't look fresh then i pass. you can't go wrong with diner coleslaw so i always eat that. your thoughts?

[Carolyn Tillie]

Never a big coleslaw fan (something about mayonnaise-based salads never did it for me), but I adore pickles (especially Japanese ones!)

[tastykimmie]

only if the pickle and slaw are FRESH!!

[hathor]

The fine art of cole slaw has nearly become a lost art. It should be crunchy and a bit tart and with the magical earthiness of celery seed just peeking thru. A refreshing treat with character, not that mushy, acidic diner slaw that comes in gigantic pails.

[SobaAddict70]

It depends on the pickle and the slaw.

Most times either one or the other barely makes it past the passable mark.

A pickle should be crunchy and briny all at the same time. Properly made slaw should have a nice balance of vinegar and sweetness without one aspect overwhelming the other. (Otoh, I have had slaws that are just underseasoned shredded vegetables in milky buttermilk. )

Sometimes the sides are just fit for the circular file.

Sometimes not.

Soba

[McDuff]

As far as I'm concerned it's a violation of protocol to eat certain things without also eating the pickle and coleslaw.

[sequim]

i for one love the pickle & cole slaw that you get with a sandwich. however, a girlfriend of mine who used to work at a diner, said to NEVER eat them. i didn't ask for the details but i got the feeling it wasn't pretty.

I'm with you. But I think your friend should have said why NEVER to eat them. If I worried about what goes into food and what's done in the back I'd never eat anything. So with the idea of what I don't see won't hurt me, I dig in because I love coleslaw and I love pickles. Plus I always ask the others in my group if they don't want their pickle, then I scarf it.

Edited March 17, 2004 by sequim (log)

[FistFullaRoux]

however, a girlfriend of mine who used to work at a diner, said to NEVER eat them. i didn't ask for the details but i got the feeling it wasn't pretty.

My bet is, they both come from a bucket. And buckets don't easily fit into refrigerators. Walk ins, yes. But if you are doing brisk business, the bucket may come out for an extended period, or get forgotten all together for a couple of hours at a time.

Edited March 17, 2004 by FistFullaRoux (log)

[JennyUptown]

I don't like either (what a shocker, huh? ) so I don't need to worry about what's been done to them prior to being put on my dinner table.

[Suzanne F]

Remember, too, that those little cups of coleslaw are made up way ahead of service, and generally sit out on somebody's station for hours and hours.

That said: I adore cheap coleslaw so I almost always eat it anyway. Unless it has no flavor. But I'm very particular about pickles, and usually what passes for a pickle, isn't. They are usually too soft, too turmeric-y or horror of horrors, dill-flavored. Not my idea of a good time.

[Pan]

I usually eat coleslaw only at Katz's here in New York, where it does not come on the side and I order it separately. If pickles come with a dish I order, I may take a bite or two and decide if I like them. I'm not a huge pickle man, normally.

[sashimi]

Always eat the pickle -- never the coleslaw. Like Caroline, I've never been a fan of mayo-based salads. A fresh, crispy pickle though, is a wonderful thing.

[Pickles]

It depends on the pickle and the slaw.

Indeed. Hard to believe, but I actually HAVE met a pickle I didn't like....the cheap, flacid, sour ones that often end up on an exceptional cheeseburger and fries plate. We used to go to Wolfie's Deli and they'd have a whole vat of cut-up half sours on every table and I'd go nuts. The garlic...the crunch...OMG.... and their cole slaw was impeccable. Soggy pickles and deadly sweet, overly dressed cole slaw gets ignored totally. And the cole slaw that's often FIZZY?? Bleh! And what's with that "eye cup" of cole slaw thing some places give you? You know...that tiny Dixie Cup that holds just a whisper of dried up slaw? Spare me.

[Milt]

I'm cheap. I'll eat whatever is on my plate, including pickle and cole slaw almost every time. My mother always assured me that had the tablet been longer, thou shalt not waste was going to be #11.

It is also a fascinating way to stay aware of the great variety in pickles and, especially, cole slaw. Limp, dead cabbage is the biggest turn off with cole slaw. Otherwise, I am intrigued. The many recipes are fascinating. Cole slaw, huevos rancheros, barbecue, potato salad and even a ham and cheese sandwich fascinate me because of the tremendous variety of preparations that I have been served.

[Mayhaw Man]

I'm cheap. I'll eat whatever is on my plate, including pickle and cole slaw almost every time. My mother always assured me that had the tablet been longer, thou shalt not waste was going to be #11.

I eat em both. I am a member in good standing of the "Clean Plate Club" and an avid follower of the 11th commandment.

I prefer vingary to creamy as far as cole slaw goes, but they both have their place.

I like anything pickled. Even bad pickles are better than no pickles IMHO.

[Pickles]

Speaking of pickles, I polished off a half a jar of jalepeno baby dills last night--Mt. Olive Brand. I always wish they'd put more than one lousy little spear on the plate in restaurants, but if the pickles are especially good, I always ask for more.

[Knicke]

Even bad pickles are better than no pickles IMHO.

Hear hear! Can we get a "puckery" smiley, please?

I always eat the pickle, even the bad kind. I actually have a soft spot in my heart for the really cheap, yellow 5 enhanced, alum-soaked kind. Definitely an emotional attachment; I used to steal half the dill chips out of the jar during family burger fests. An excellent, crisp kosher crunch is fabulous too, but it's like comparning apples and oranges...

As for the slaw, I usually at least take a bite of it. If I'm hungry or bored or just munchy, I may eat it - it doesn't have to be good, just not noticably fermented. Not always, though; if it's in one of those wacky little paper cups I don't even bother...

I always eat the parsley sprig if there is one! But never the wilted lettuce leaf. Weird...

[Pickles]

Even bad pickles are better than no pickles IMHO.

I always eat the parsley sprig if there is one!

You never know where that's been... As for the cheap, yellow dye enhanced pickles...UGH! Those I stay away from, and fortunately they give themselves away pretty easily by the color and sharp aroma... so I can push them off my plate lest they leak their vinegary, stanky juice on my sandwich bread.

[Knicke]

You never know where that's been...

You're probably right and some day I'll probably regret it (hepatitis, anyone?), but it's on my plate, touching my food already(!), so I've probably already taken the risk by ordering...

I don't like when the pickles get my sandwich bread all sodden either, but this can happen with even the best of the briney bunch....

[chow guy]

I love a good pickle and good slaw, they go perfectly with a sandwich. It's a shame so many places don't have good versions of either. I take it as a lack of attention to detail (after all it's not rocket science). I think of them as a kind of barometer. If the pickles and slaw are great the rest of the menu is probaably going to be pretty darned good too.

[Bicycle Lee]

I usually stay away from coleslaw type of things unless I make them or I totally trust the establishment. Pickles are a different story...I'll eat a pickle if it looks right...

I am a huge fan of tuna salad, chicken salad and the like, but I will never get them from a diner... I only eat those that I have watched being made...

It's just a small psychosis of mine...

[alacarte]

I'll eat the coleslaw if I can identify the individual vegetables in the slaw -- but not if it's just a whitewashed mess. I always add pepper to my coleslaw too.

[kimmyb72]

pepper is a must!

[bloviatrix]

Last night we out for dinner at a local deli. As they placed the pickles and coleslaw on the table this thread immediately came to mind.

We were given a combination of half-sours and whole sours and demolished all of them. The cole slaw was pretty decent as well.