Gewürzgurkendill-brined pickled cucumbers

Small cucumbers in a brine of vinegar, salt and sugar, seasoned with dill, mustard seed, pepper and onion. Sour with a sweet edge, not sweet with a hint of sour.

They get rolled inside Rouladen, diced into potato salad and chopped into remoulade. There they are the acid and the bite.

Die Fallethe trap

Mexican pepinillos usually follow the US style: either clearly sweetened or purely sour with no spice.

The sweet ones drag potato salad towards dessert. The plain sour ones give acid but neither dill nor mustard seed, and the remoulade stays one-note.

Kaufenwhere to buy

Look for eneldo on the label, meaning dill pickles with no added sugar. German and Polish jars turn up on Mercado Libre and in import shops.

Selbst einlegenpickle your own

Take small, firm pepinos and cut off the blossom end, or the pickles go soft.

Boil water with vinegar, salt and a little sugar until the brine tastes like pickling liquid. Into the jar: dill, mustard seed, peppercorns and onion rings; pack the cucumbers tight, pour the hot brine over and close it.

Let them stand cold for a few days. Before that they taste of cucumber; after it they taste of Gewürzgurke.