Query: Spicy Gherkins

A question for y’all: can anyone recommend a good brand of gherkins or cornichons? I’m looking for a good spicy / sour variety in a jar, to keep in the fridge to have on hand to accompany sandwiches, pate on crackers, etc. I’ve tried some from Lidl and Marks & Spencer but they’re just too sweet. Fallon & Byrne have fantastic sour cornichons at their deli counter, but they’re expensive and don’t keep as long as the jars.

The problem, I think, is the type of vinegar that the tiny cucumbers are pickled in.  If it’s a sweet vinegar, they are sweet and nauseating (to me at least). If it’s sour, they are fiery and delightful.  I thought I’d struck gold in my local Polish shop (Wisla on South Circular Road at Dolphin’s Barn) yesterday with the pictured pickles, but they turned out to be sweet pickles with chilli pieces in the vinegar.  So, sweet and disgusting, but with an aftertaste of chilli.  NO.

It’s a nuisance when you buy pickles, which only ever seem to come in giant jars, and then can’t eat them, and they sit there taking up valuable fridge real estate until someone eventually throws them away. Lidl and Marks & Spencer have disappointed me with their sickly pickles. Can you, our lovely readers, recommend some spicy brands?