Bressan is founder of Fresh Crunch, one of the D.C. area’s only picklers.
How did you get into this line of work?
I was in corporate catering and we always made everything from scratch, including pickles. You kind of hit a wall with catering around here, the way traffic is, everything just becomes a major headache with a lot of stress. So, with pickling you are not against the wall all the time.
But why make pickles?
Because people don’t do that around here. There are very few people making pickles in the D.C. area. I knew I could get into any market I wanted to.
How did you learn to make them?
In the catering business, I made pickles with another gentleman, and then he left the company and I started making them myself. I started getting creative and making things my own way. So, I kind of got stuck with a task that I didn’t want to do, but I tried to make the most out of it and have fun with it. And I always got good feedback from people with what I did. So I started going to farmers markets and I saw a lot of potential there.
What is unique about the pickles?
I have just made up flavors … I just take vegetables and use different vinegars and spices, stuff people haven’t had before. A lot of our stuff is very unique. I’m not your typical kosher-pickle person.
What are the most interesting pickles you make?
I do a ginger citrus-flavored beet, a sweet and hot pickle that is pretty unique … I just take things I like based on my culinary experience and try to tweak it with pickles.
Why not sell them at the store?
They are fresh pickles, so I’m trying to figure out how to give them a longer shelf life without having to fill them with preservatives.
