Americans have been eating pickles ever since Christopher Columbus discovered the land. Since then, the pickled cucumber has become a favored snack, available in more than 36 varieties. Even teenagers and toddlers love them. In a recent study teens have identified pickles as one of their favorite vegetables. (Some call pickles a vegetable, but Supreme Court U.S.A. has ruled that they are a fruit of the vine.)
Pickle history dates back to 2030 B.C., when inhabitants of Northern India brought cucumber seeds to the Tigris Valley. Shortly thereafter, cucumber vines were growing all across Europe. People then learned to preserve the fruits of their labor by pickling them in a salty brine.
During the 17th century, the pickle came to the “New World.” By the 1820s, colonists had grown so fond of pickles that Nicholas Appert constructed the first pickle plant in America. In fact, America was named after a pickle peddler: Amerigo Vespucci. Vespucci was a ships chandler, outfitting vessels scheduled for long explorations with vitamin C-packed pickled vegetables (particularly cucumbers and cabbage) to prevent scurvy among crew members.