Harold's Texicun Gormay Pickles

Harold's Texicun Gormay Pickles
Derned Hot

We had a friend up from Texas, who as we soon found out, has a taste for the hot stuff.  Didn't think twice about it.  Should have.  She was visiting relatives in Ohio, so she was able to pick up some gifts for use for having her over for a few days of her stay.  

She knew that I'm a pickle addict and brought a jar of Harold's Texicun Gormay Pickles.  Red flags of fire should have lept up at me when the label had 2 categories, "Purdy Hot" and "Derned Hot" and the latter was checked.

First, Shannon recommended that we chill the jar.  Apparently, these things are particularly sensitive to temperature and get soggy and limp when warm.  I think most pickles probably do this, but some hold up better than others.  As a side note, I returned the favor by introducing Shannon to McClure's Spicy, which she really liked, but gave me egg on my face when they weren't as crazy-crunchy as I'd reviewed.  Chilling helped those too, so its probably a safe bet to chill your pickles as a matter of course.

Harold's pickles came in a jar that was pretty much a Mason jar, complete with the separate seal and outside ring--just like Mom used to use.  Definitely gives it a "crafted" quality.  The first thing you notice (aside from "Derned Hot") is the beautiful red color of the chilis inside and the chunks of garlic and mounds of seeds on the bottom.  I'm not precisely sure what those seeds are, but if I had to guess, I'm going to say they were hot pepper seeds.  Why?  Let me make this clear:

They are DERNED HOT!

McClure's are spicy, but can't hold a blowtorch to these babies.  Shannon thought they were "pretty hot" because she could only eat "3 or 4 before I had to quit".  I ate one, and the initial dill and garlic flavors hit you first--really tasty, in fact.  Next, you taste the pepper, and its pretty zingy.  However, what you're tasting is the initial effect, and it builds very quickly to overcome the niceness and bring you to a full sear.  Seldom do I do the hot pepper cough, but with these, it came easy.

Now, the trouble is, I can only eat one, so its taken a few days to get a feel for the true flavor of the pickle.  They are yummy, but the heat really reigns you in.  If I buy a jar of my own, I'm going to have to go with the "purdy hot" variety to step it down a bit.  The crunch and flavor came through, but they had some stout competition from the heat.