海角大神

Long dill pickle slices have been something of a signature on burgers served at Canada鈥檚听贬补谤惫别测鈥檚聽chain. But now its customers have a new topping/side option: deep-fried dill pickle spears.

Sometimes called 鈥渇rickles,鈥� deep-fried pickles aren鈥檛 new, especially on Southern and Low country menus where they鈥檝e long been favorites. Now they鈥檙e appearing more often on burger bar menus, where they pair nicely with burgers.

鈥淲e are well known as a chain for the pickles we top our burgers with, so it was a natural transition to offer a great deep fried pickle as well,鈥� says Ken Harrison, brand manager for the 55-year-old, 250+ unit chain.

You can鈥檛 just rush into the world of frickles. There are questions to be asked and answered first:

• Pickle spears or pickle chips?
• Dills or bread & butter pickles?
• Battered or breaded?
• Served with the traditional side of ranch dressing or something better?

鈥淲e debated going with a spear versus a chip,鈥� says Harrison.聽鈥淲e tried a number of different recipes and what we settled on delivers on the crisp, juicy pickle that our guests have come to love topping our burgers.聽 We also felt that the spear was a more filling eat that fit in well with snacking occasions.聽 Finally, we just generally have seen more prominence of the pickle spear on Canadian restaurant menus versus the chips, so it was something that our guests were already searching for.

鈥淲e tried a variety of different options on the coating as well, and where we landed was a breading that is nice and crispy but doesn鈥檛 outshine the pickle itself.聽 It has done great on our menu, and we get our fair share of pictures from guests showing us how great it tastes as a topping on a burger, too.鈥�

AJ Bombers听颈苍 Milwaukee celebrates Frickle Fridays, serving crumb-dusted dill slices. Celebrity chef Richard Blais鈥檚听Flip Burger Boutique听颈苍 Atlanta, Birmingham and Nashville opts for bread & butter pickles.聽DMK Burger Bar听颈苍 Chicago deep fries okra along with its pickles.聽Bill鈥檚 Bar & Burger听颈苍 New York City fries, dill pickle chips plus banana and jalape艌o peppers.聽GM Burger Bar听颈苍 Rockville Center, N.Y., does batter-fried jalape艌o slices.聽SpritzBurger听颈苍 Chicago goes way out and opts for panko-coated deep-fried beet slices, served with citrus goat-cheese dip..

And the coating? It鈥檚 a tempura batter at聽Abbey Burger Bistro听颈苍 Baltimore. Many others鈥攊ncluding聽Citizen Burger Bar聽in Charlottesville and Arlington, Va..鈥攃hoose a beer batter. For extra crunch, Chef Emeril Lagasse coats his pickles with panko breadcrumbs at聽Burgers & More by Emeril听颈苍 Bethlehem, Pa. In keeping with the heritage,聽Juniper: A Southern Table & Bar听颈苍 St. Louis dredges pickles in spiced cornmeal.

Burger bars have become masters of condiments so it isn鈥檛 surprising that there isn鈥檛 agreement on the perfect dipping sauce for fried pickles. Ranch is traditional, but ranch is boring.聽Town Hall Tap听颈苍 Minneapolis serves its breaded and fried, cream-cheese-stuffed kosher pickle chips with jalape艌o blackberry chutney. Not boring.聽Blue Door Pub听颈苍 St. Paul, Minn., serves the same garlic a茂oli it offers with its deep-fried Spam bites. Some other choices: apricot sauce (The Counter); wasabi mayo (Burgers 2 Beer, Highland heights, Ohio); chipotle mayo (Emeril); sriracha sauce (Luxe Burger Bar, Providence, R.I.); horseradish a茂oli (Cowfish); curry mayo聽(Little Goat, Chicago); and garlic-dill sauce (Romers Burger Bar, Vancouver).