Questa domanda si riferisce spesso al riferimento biblico:

Voi siete il sale della terra. Ma se il sale perde la sua salinità, come può essere reso nuovamente salato? Non serve più a nulla, se non ad essere gettato via e ad essere calpestato dagli uomini. Matteo. 5:13

Il concetto è stimolante fino alla parte in cui il sale perde la sua salinità. Una persona scientifica direbbe che questo non ha senso. Il sale è sale, finché non si separa il sodio dal cloro.

Il problema deriva dal fatto che questo versetto è stato scritto in un tempo e luogo particolari. È stato scritto nell'antico Israele, che comprende il Mar Morto. Un mezzo comune per ottenere il sale era dai frammenti di argilla dalla riva del Mar Morto. Questi frammenti sono fortemente infusi di sale e venivano chiamati sale. Se ne immergi uno in una pentola di stufato, il sale fuoriesce e lo stufato diventa salato. Lo fai un po' di volte e il frammento non ha più sale facilmente raggiungibile. Quindi usi i frammenti come pavimentazione nel tuo patio che puoi calpestare.

Contrary to popular belief, Wendy’s and Chick-fil-A both use dill pickles. They are however, slightly different from each other.

Before we start, the question about “why are some pickles almost white in the center?” — We all know that pickles are made from cucumbers. Depending on “where” the pickles are cut from on the cucumber will affect how they ultimately look. The ends of cucumbers will look different from the “meat” of the cucumber, as the ends will have less concentrations of seeds - making the pickle look more “white”.

Chick-fil-A actually uses a proprietary process to make their dill pickles. They are “grown with care, soaked for 3 days and ripened to perfection at Paradise Farms in Almond, WI.”[1] You can actually hear the whole story straight from Chick-fil-A’s mouth:

In contrast, Wendy’s ALSO uses a dill pickle, but theirs is a crinkle cut, like this:

You aren’t the only one with issues about Wendy’s pickles.

People SWEAR that Wendy’s has changed their pickles along the way. And they did - a long time ago. They actually consulted “pickle chemists” when they revamped their burgers back in 2011.[2]

For whatever reason, people still don’t think that the pickles are a traditional dill pickle, but maybe a sweet dill pickle, or a bread and butter pickle (which are usually crinkle cut, which may be why people think that).

Wendy’s is adamant that they haven’t changed their pickles:

We actually have not changed our pickles. They are still crinkle-cut dill pickles.

But there are all sorts of posts online related the mystery that is Wendy’s pickles:

• Tony Thompson - why did you all quit putting dill pickles on your hamburgers?
• Wendy's pickles?
• Wendy's pickles!?!?
• When did Wendy's switch to sweet pickles?
• Where do these horrible pickles come from at Wendy's?
• Wendy's sweet pickles?

But still, Wendy’s insists they haven’t changed them.

If we look at the nutritional info for a Wendy’s burger with pickles, we see that the ingredients are:

• Crinkle Cut Pickles: Cucumbers, Water, Salt, Vinegar, Lactic Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Natural Flavors, Polysorbate 80, Turmeric (Color).

If we look at the nutritional information for a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwiches pickles, we see that the ingredients are:

• Pickle: cucumbers, water, vinegar, salt, contains less than 2% of alum, calcium chloride, potassium sorbate (preservative), natural flavor, polysorbate 80, yellow 5, blue 1.

There’s no doubt that every pickle will taste different, so depending on the actual chemistry of the ingredients and cooking process of the pickles, 2 dill pickles from 2 different places will ultimately have 2 different flavors.

Footnotes