Close to 120 people, from seniors to young children, participated in the Kosher Pickle Factory, the traveling workshop that came to Tucson for the first time.
The presentation was organized by Chabad of Tucson, the largest Jewish outreach and education network in Southern Arizona. Corporate sponsors were AshTov LLC and the Paterson Pickle Company in NJ.
"We all see items like kosher pickles or kosher salt on the shelves of the supermarket. Today you will learn their origin and how they got their name," Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin of Chabad of Tucson told participants at the Jewish Community Center's Sculpture Garden.
The nationally traveled instructor, Mendy Margolin who goes by the professional name of "Rabbi Pickle," flew in from Brooklyn, NY, where pickles are the staple of any honorable deli sandwich.
Margolin presented a fascinating review of the concept of Kosher dietary laws and how thick kosher salt was needed to be used to salt slaughtered chicken and animals.
Participants got to make their personalized jars including the "winning recipe" shared by Margolin and which included Kirby cucumbers that came directly from a farm in Nogales, Arizona.
"It was a fun and interactive learning experience that I was able to share with my husband who normally hates cooking and was excited about this," says Donna Youdelman, a special-ed teacher.
Youdelman said she remembers her New York-born mother taking her to a New York deli to fetch a pickle from a barrel.
"When my mom would make pickles at home, I couldn't wait for them to be ready. And I must say, I can't wait for the pickles I made to be ready," she admitted.
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