Diablo Magazine, May 2002

Got pickles? The Montclair Malt Shop does – and they’re giving them away to pregnant women. Big, juicy dills, just waiting to be crunched – with a side of ice cream.

Maurine Marie

It’s not for the faint of palate. In fact, some young women today haven’t heard of the pickles and ice cream craving of their mother’s generation. But owner Maurine Marie remembers. “About a year ago, I decided to put up a hand-written sign offering pregnant women a free pickle with their ice cream order.” Soon she had her first nibble – a customer with such raging hormones she ordered two Mango Banana Smoothies at a time – with pickles on top. “The pickles were so huge, they wouldn’t float on top so I put them in cups” says Marie.

Seems the middle trimester is prime time for food-craving expectant mothers to succumb to temptation and indulge in this love affair with sour and sweet. Women in their first trimester don’t usually have the stomach for such experimental cuisine, and by the final three months of the pregnancy, they’re getting serious about cutting back on calories. But during months four-to-six: Pucker up, baby!