THEY WERE PICKLES TO DIE FOR

Sarah Neusihin, the sister of longtime Shaarie Torah Rabbi Joseph Fain, went into the pickle business to supplement the family income. She operated out of her home, first up near Southwest 10th Avenue, and then in her longtime home – still standing – at 420 SW College St.

“Mrs. Neusihin’s Pickles” did not use vinegar in the brine. Just salt water, spices and lots of garlic.

“I took some to the fancy grocery store and said they should taste,” she told a reporter for The Oregonian in 1966. “They took all I had, showed me how to do billing, and I’m making pickles from that day.”

In the 1960s and ’70s, the pickle operation was just around the corner from where Mosler’s Bakery relocated after urban renewal. Walking on those streets was culinary bliss.

“The fragrance,” the Oregonian reporter noted, “has been known to make grown men swoon.”

Mrs. Neuishin died in 1970, and the business is no longer in family hands. The label still exists, though the recipe and the sourcing of supplies has changed.

*Thanks to Oregon Jewish Life Magazine

Comments

[Robert Dove]

My favorite but can't find them anymore. Albertson's used to carry them but no more. If anyone knows where you can still get them please share.

[JoelinPDX]

Pickling is a horrible thing to do to perfectly good cucumbers.

[sidelineguy]

At one time they were being marketed under the brand name of "Felix". Believe it was by a former employee but not sure. Can't find them either. They were the absolute best...

[scott]

Someone could make good business adhering to the original recipe!

[UrbanGent]

According to Portlandia there is nothing on the face of the earth that cant be Pickled

[Rick...]

Some on a forum called the Michigan company that bought the brand some years ago and he was told that they aren't making them anymore. So sad. I love that pickle.