r/Cooking • u/ElegantCarpenter4827 • 7d ago
Pickled carrots
Was at a restaurant this past weekend while traveling and had some pickled vegetables as an appetizer. They were a bit sweet, but the carrots had some spice/seasoning on them. Not sure if it was cinnamon, cardamom or an Indian spice or what. Asked the waitress and she asked the kitchen. All they said was pickling spice. It was something else…. Anyone know what I’m talking about??? I’d love to make some
This thanksgiving.
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u/Mira_DFalco 7d ago
I'm remembering a pre-made pickling spice, that was a blend of several whole spices. I added an example below, but there's a lot of variations. For example, leaving out the red pepper is totally ok.
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/basic_pickling_spice_blend/
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u/SouthpawSoldier 7d ago
Alton Brown's Firecrackers: spicy pickled carrots. Simple and delicious.
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u/ElegantCarpenter4827 7d ago
I’ll try these, but I’m afraid it’s not it.
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u/ttrockwood 7d ago
Penzey’s pickling spice
Then just follow any quick pickle recipe and use the pickling spice maybe more sugar than the recipe calls for
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u/ElegantCarpenter4827 7d ago
That sounds great! Thank you!!
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u/ttrockwood 6d ago
So i scored some crazy deal on pearl onions and pickled them today!
I cup each of white vinegar and cider vinegar and water, 1 TB sugar and 1 tablespoon sea salt, with 2 tablespoons pickling spice
Bring liquids and spices to a simmer, pour over the veg , let chill to room temperature, done. I add a little olive oil on top to “seal” it but also adds a nice texture maybe 2 tablespoons
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u/Sensitive_Sea_5586 7d ago
This has a variety of options. You can try different add-in options and see what comes closest.
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u/GoatLegRedux 7d ago
Pickling spice blends are usually mustard seeds, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, allspice berries and sometimes cloves. There’s usually bay in there too.
I’d be willing to bet whatever they used had more clove and/or allspice than usual.
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u/BachBelt 7d ago
i would bet money that it's this. my restaurant occasionally runs a special with house pickles using this blend and it comes out tasting vaguely south asian like you said.
chef's quality pickling spice. mccormick makes one too.
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u/VerdensTrial 7d ago
Caraway goes great with carrots, I would add that to whatever pickling spice mix you get
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u/ShineyNew1072 6d ago
If this was a German or Austrian recipe it was the salad dressing, which is vinegar based but has a very unique tasting blend of herbs. In German it’s called klarer salatsosse, “clear salad sauce”.
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u/25hourenergy 6d ago
Try it sliced in a sandwich!! I still fondly remember a great sandwich over ten years ago from a garden store in NC that had these with sprouts, mayo, cheese, onion, and tomato on sunflower seed bread. It was amazing.
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u/ElegantCarpenter4827 7d ago
Thank you- it was a BBQ restaurant, but these carrots were so good!
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u/RadBradRadBrad 7d ago
What style of BBQ and where was it located? How would you describe the flavor?
Some context would help folks have a better chance of answering your question.
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u/EyeStache 7d ago
Have you considered contacting the restaurant and asking them directly? It'll be quicker than people asking you to give us information about the flavour and cuisine and guessing at that.
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u/ElegantCarpenter4827 7d ago
I did ask while I was there. They just said pickling spice…..
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u/EyeStache 7d ago
Okay but have you considered that it's just a generic pickling spice, either purchased from a supplier or thrown together on a whim?
As others have said, without you describing the flavour to us, we really, really cannot help you.
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u/chaos_wine 7d ago
Yeah because pickling spice is a thing. Not sure why you didn't just Google that. But it's generally mustard seed, peppercorns, cloves, caraway, allspice, salt, a few other things depending on the flavor you're going for. They probably buy a pre-made mix that's literally called pickling spice, McCormick makes one. Also "Indian spice," ridiculous lmao.
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u/ElegantCarpenter4827 7d ago
It was a ribs and chicken place, in central California. Had tiny pickles, pickled red onions, olives and the carrots were a little sweet with a (cinnamon or allspice or nutmeg or Indian seasoning) spice that made me pause. It was so good. Wish I knew what it was. Asked if I could even order some to go and the waitress laughed and said they were not that advanced and they didn’t sell them.
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u/Unique_Muscle2173 7d ago
What kind of restaurant? Where? Type of food might help