Summer is the perfect time to get pickling. With so much produce in season, pickling is a great way to save those flavors for cooler weather. We wrote about how well cheese plays with pickled veggies in our Cheese+ issue, but what about cheese and pickled fruit?

Blogger and cheese expert Kirstin Jackson of It’s Not You, It’s Brie showed us how it’s done with her beautiful apricot “quickles.” Her quick pickles need to soak in their vinegar solution overnight, and then they’re ready for months of storage in your fridge. Couldn’t get much easier than that, and you can enjoy your summer fruits well into fall. Jackson offers some pretty awesome pairing tips, too.

The acid in the pickle offers a bright contrast to the concentrated umami and fat content of an aged cheese. And as has been proven for centuries with the ploughman’s lunch, pickles and Cheddar fancy each other’s company. I’ve paired these sweet pickles with Fiscalini and Montgomery Cheddar, rich semi-soft cheeses like Abbaye-de-Belloc, and even fresh goat cheese. These pickles, fresh chèvre, on a pulled pork on a sandwich? Yeah, I’d eat one of those.

If apricots aren’t your fruit of choice, try pickled cherries with mozzarella. Pickled plums would go well with goat cheese, pickled watermelon would be a good match for salty feta, and pickled peaches with lightly sweetened yogurt would make an excellent breakfast. 

Photo by Tad Seaborn

Alicia Hahn

Alicia Hahn excels at eating and enjoys writing, crosswords, and cooking (preferably with cheese). Originally from San Francisco, she moved to Boston for school and fell in love with the city (despite an annual campaign against winter). Her favorite place to be is the farmers’ market, where she finds weird and exciting ingredients to make or break her next meal.