"Seven Sours"

[duckidaho]

Does anyone know what the old country phrase ...eating the "Seven Sours" means? I imagine it's fermented pickles, but what are the others and why are they good for your health. Thanks

[GoodDaughter]

I believe the Pennsyvania Dutch have a tradition of including seven sour foods during a meal. Perhaps some research into the Penna. Dutch would give some insight?

[sbemt456]

Hello all. Duck if you read a lot of their recipes they make a lot of fermented veggies that sometimes they called pickles. And we know that fermented foods provide probiotics and good enzymes that our digestion needs. Also they did a lot of hard physical labor which would I think require many calories.
I think it was seven sours and seven sweets that were set at the table. Even the sweets in my opinion would also contain many nutrients because they were made from berries and home grown goodies.
Just my thoughts.

Have a great day!

stella

[silvergramma]

omg i'd be so fat lol

[anna]

My grandmother almost always had bread & butter pickles, beet pickles and apple sauce and apple butter or other jelly/jam on the table at every meal except breakfast when it was just the jelly & jam.

I think in the past when you could not get fresh food during the off season that pickles were very important to the variety of diet and probably provided needed nutrients as well. I can recall a Gun Smoke episode where Doc demanded pickles from someone's cellar to save the life of someone else. When I think about it, pickling is the only way to preserve cucumbers for winter.