Judging preserves at the Royal Brisbane Show (colloquially known as 'The Ekka'), I would approach the bread and butter pickles section with some trepidation. Each year, there was one particular entry that I never looked forward to. Each year, it was there without fail and was immediately identifiable (despite the anonymous nature of the entries), because it looked completely different from the others in the category. Bread and butter pickles are made with thinly sliced cucumbers and sometimes other vegetables, such as onion, in a lightly spiced brine. This particular entry was a jar filled with thick rings of anaemic looking cucumber, with little else to flavour them. It tasted just as it looked, flaccid cucumber in a watery brine, with absolutely no flavour and a very unappealing texture. I admired the entrants' persistence and their ability to not take on board any of the comments offered by the judges!
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