The Pick of Pickles

Many a new food business starts with a taste of “home,” and it was no different for Sam Chesebrough, owner and pickle-maker of Pickily. Chesebrough, a fan of his grandmother’s pickles “his whole life,” adapted her recipe for Pickily’s first product, Pickily Cukes. The cucumbers are in a liquid brine that contains vinegar, honey, sea salt and mustard seed, and using the same ingredients, Chesebrough went on to pickle sweet peppers, red onions, beets, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and other seasonal specials. Each vegetable has plenty of crunch—they are not jarred, just sealed in plastic tubs for refrigeration—and each gives forth its distinctive taste. The peppers are sweet, the beets earthy, the Brussels sprouts a bit sharp. The cukes are somewhat like half-sours, but with no garlic and no pucker. Working at restaurants through his teens and college, plus at a Boston-based online retailer, Chesebrough wanted to “start small, without a steep financial investment” and to keep his product “mild, fresh, delicious and healthy.” Pick a pickle and see for yourself!

Available throughout Rhode Island, the South Coast and nearby Connecticut. Visit Pickily.com for a list of retail locations.