Head to Picklesburgh for pickled fudge, moonshine, dogs
The sky is the limit when Picklesburgh returns for the third year with a lot more pucker punch.
With a Brobdingnagian Heinz pickle balloon flying above, booths will sell pickled fudge, pickle on a stick covered with Belgian chocolate, dill pickle bubble tea, pickled peach sweet tea, bacon-wrapped fried pickle, peanut butter pickle cookies, kimchi hot dogs, pizza with pickled toppings, pretzel stuffed with pickle and cupcakes with dill pickle.
There also will be a chance to win $500, some bragging rights and be crowned mayor of Picklesburgh.
The festival will host 35 vendors from noon to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at a new location — the Roberto Clemente Bridge, Downtown.
Picklesburgh is a way of engaging the Downtown office community and supporting restaurants, said Jeremy Waldrup, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, at a time in the summer calendar when there are no conventions or home games for the Bucs. The group went with the Roberto Clemente bridge this year because of the construction on the Seventh Street Bridge that has led to increased traffic on its previous site, the Rachel Carson Bridge.
“It’s also a time to kick back, relax, eat and drink on a beautiful bridge,” he said.
This year’s new vendors include Chocolate Moonshine Co. of Grove City that is creating a Belgian chocolate fudge covered with creamy caramel and topped with roasted cashew nuts with dill pickle flavoring exclusively for the festival. Co-partner Brian Griffin said his booth also will feature a smoked whiskey version of the fudge and pickle lollipop, where a large slice of pickle is coated with candy and threaded onto a lollipop stick.
First-timer McLaughlin Distillery of Sewickley will sell dill pickle moonshine for which whole Heinz dill pickles are soaked in the distilled spirit and sold in mason jars. Moonshines with bread-and-butter pickle slices and whole jalapenos will be available, said owner Kim
McLaughlin, and so will half-ounce samples for ageappropriate drinkers.
Pretzel Revolution of Reading is another newbie, andowner Dean Borrell, who usually sells Buffalo chicken or ham and cheese pretzels, said he will be puckering up his iconic Pennsylvania Dutch staple by adding diced pickles in a traditional pretzel dough, wrapping pickle and mozzarella cheese in pretzel dough and stuffing pretzels with shredded chicken, pickle spear, mozzarellaand creamy dill sauce.
Popular pickled foods and drinks that were featured last year will be making a comeback and they include pickle egg rolls from Le’s Oriental, Sienna Mercato’s pickled lemonade, grilled cheese sandwiches from Pickled Chef and Burgh Bites’ various dogs including Picklesburgh Dog.
Pickled sour cherry sorbet with bay leaves is a new feature from Pittsburgh Ice Cream Co., which will be bringing back its dill pickle, bread-and-butter jalapeno and pickled ginger ice creams.
In addition to pickle-inspired international foods, cocktails and mocktails prepared by restaurants and small-batcher picklers, chefs and farmers will share recipes on how to make kimchi-style pickles and pickled asparagus, pair pickled fruit with cheese, and offer the do’s and don’ts of DIY canning. The Downtown restaurant, Union Standard, will present a pickled blackberry shrub demo and the Post-Gazette’s Gretchen McKay will give one on how to julienne vegetables for pickling.
Farms and businesses also will sell pickled merchandise such as relishes, mustards, jams, jewelry, fermentation crocks and starter kits, lip balms and green “picklely” glass products such ornaments and vases.
A part of the Fort Duquesne Boulevard will be closed on Saturday to accommodate an expanded kid’s area, which will features games and an inflatable slide, and live soundtrack will be provided by local bands on both days.
For those looking to make $500 in under a minute, a pickle juice drinking contest will be held all day Saturday.
People from Chicago, down South and New Jersey took part in the contest last year. Not that they were pickle juice travelers, Mr. Waldrup clarified, but they happened to be in town. The winner took 8.6 seconds to completethe feat.
Only 50 contestants will be accepted this year, and five preliminary rounds will culminate in a final round that will be held at 8:30 p.m. Participants have to guzzle a quart of dill pickle juice supplied by Pittsburgh Pickle Co., and the person who quaffs it in the fastest time without a lot of splashing or dribbling not only walks away with the prize money but also gets to be mayor of Picklesburgh.
There’s no word yet if Bill Peduto will be seeking to double up on his mayoral title.