Hengstenberg Senfgurken, 12.50 Ounce

My husband's German grandma used to make homemade mustard pickles, when he was a wee tyke. Nobody knows the recipe she used, though. Then, 20 years ago, we found a local German deli that carried a brand of mustard pickles that were very good, if not "what Grandma used to make." That mattered, too, because there's a favorite recipe on one of our old favorite cookbooks, A Culinary Voyage Through Germany , for a pork-goulash stew that uses these pickles as an essential ingredient. Sadly, the owners of the German deli told us that the brand of pickles we used to buy no longer makes the mustard pickles. This caused us great heartache, until I searched on Amazon and OH JOY OH RAPTURE I found another brand to supply us -- and it's even on Amazon Prime. (... Perhaps "rapture" is putting it too strongly. But hey it made me happy.) With this Hengstenberg brand, the mustard taste isn't quite as noticeable -- but it's still a good, mild pickle, and it worked great in the goulash recipe. Even better, a single bottle is exactly the right size for the recipe, so I don't have half a bottle hanging out in the back of the fridge.

Home made taste! That's what our friends from Germany say. If you don't know this style of pickle, you're in for a treat. It's mild, not vinegary, with a unique, smooth texture. Literally "mustard" pickle, it does not taste like mustard. Mellow, not sharp. Warning, if you eat it, you may become addicted!

I have had some problems with imported German pickles and also red cabbage. This is not only true for this brand but for others as well. Everything looks great but the taste is very light. One gets a jar of beautiful red cabbage with hardly any taste. I found these the same. They looked good and were fresh-tasting but with a very light flavor that was not like the senf gurken I remember from earlier days and in Germany. Perhaps only the more refined brands are imported to the U.S. This is only a matter of personal taste and other people will love these. It's a quality product all the way but for me with not enough flavor.

These are probably some of the best damn pickles I have ever had. I am only leaving a 3 star because this jar is miniscule and that irritates me. I require at least a quart of these. Fix that for me

Buyer beware! Check the size of product. I failed to do so. It is the smallest jar I have ever seen. Certainly not worth $10. Non returnable. Very disappointed.

Sooo good

The taste is not as I remember when I lived in Germany, but then nothing is like it used to be....back then the pickles were actual halved cucumbers, not tiny square pieces, but then the jar is the size of a small jam/jelly jar and half a cucumber would never fit in there. I know the weight is on the bottle, but I just did not imagine in my mind's eye how small that really is. I felt disappointed and somewhat cheated, so no, I won't be doing that again, especially since the flavor was mediocre at best.

I grew up with my Czech-American mother making this type of pickle every late summer, using the huge, overgrown yellow cukes that lurked under their leaves in the garden. For many years I searched ethnic grocery stores, to no avail, so I was thrilled to finally find this source for senf gurkens. Mother always included a hot chile pepper in each jar; I put a pinch of red pepper flakes in this brand’s jar - perfect!