Showerthought: my grandma's brine recipe is way better with a pinch of celery salt

I used to just follow her old recipe to the letter - water, salt, sugar, some dill and garlic - and it came out fine for pickling cukes every summer. But last August I was out of regular salt and threw in some celery salt I had left over from Bloody Marys. The flavor was completely different, deeper and way more savory. My dad even asked if I changed something because the pickles had this extra zing that cut through the tang better. I've done three batches since then with that tweak and every one turned out better than before. Anyone else ever accidentally improve a family recipe by subbing something random?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugo_craig1mo ago

That "extra zing" part is exactly what I noticed when I accidentally used smoked paprika instead of regular in my mom's chili recipe. She always said the secret was letting it simmer for hours but I think she just never tried swapping stuff. I did that same thing with celery salt in my deviled eggs once and my uncle swore I had some secret ingredient from a restaurant. Funny how messing up can lead to something better than the original, like you're not even trying to improve it but your hand just grabs the wrong thing

jones.blake1mo ago

My aunt Millie did almost the exact same thing in 1983 with her famous potato salad. @hugo_craig, the celery salt swap reminded me of how she grabbed garlic powder instead of onion powder one Fourth of July. Everyone raved about it and she never told a soul it was a mistake. She kept using that wrong ingredient for 20 years until my cousin caught her doing it. I think half the time "secret family recipes" are just happy accidents nobody wants to admit to.