Recipe question about "zestiness".

[Bamabuzzard]

I picked up some dill pickle spears at the store the other day. Vlassic I think was the name brand. They were "zesty" flavored and man were they good! I've got a homemade recipe for a Cajun Pickle and would like to tinker with adding some of the same "zestiness" to them as in the Vlassic ones I picked up.

What is the ingredient(s) normally used to get "zest"? Thanks in advance. :thumb:

[cholloway]

Give us the list of ingredients from the label.

[bigabyte]

Well, all I could get from a Google search were these ideas. Maybe you could experiment and see which one works best?

http://www.dimensionsguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Zester.jpg

http://www.mrsassy.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/whitewater%20zest.jpg

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2006/02/honda-zest.jpg

[Bamabuzzard]

I'm not at home but as soon as I get home I will. I looked at it but cannot figure out what ingredient on it is bringing that zestiness to the taste. But I'll post the ingredients when I get home. Thanks.

[Mdboatbum]

My guess would be hot peppers and garlic. Maybe a citrus kick from lemon or lime zest. Depending on the type of pickle you're thinking of making (fermented -vs- infused) you could play with the ratio of water to vinegar or time in the brine.

[Stoke&Smoke]

Well it's gonna have vinegar, garlic, probably at least pickling spices (ie ground bay leaf, mustard seed, allspice, corriander, mustard, ground chile,(my bet for the "zest"), probably dill, and maybe cardamon, cloves, and pepper

[landarc]

My bet is on raw garlic, citric acid and some pepper, but, not a lot of pepper.

You can get a nice subtle bite, almost impossible to define, yet there, with adding a small serrano to a large jar of pickles. Raw garlic added to a pickle adds a heat that is not easily indetified, that will play on the palate more like piquant than hot.