The beautiful okra that I got in the summer from farmers around Wilmington seemed such a fleeting pleasure that I began to experiment with recipes and processes to preserve the essential, quite particular goodness of that odd-pod vegetable by pickling.

I have always loved pickled foods, and okra was put on earth first of all to be pickled.  After trying and tasting and trying and tasting again, I finally got the recipe for classic pickled okra just the way I love it. 

Locals and tourists at the Riverfront Farmers’ Market in Wilmington, where I set up on Saturday mornings to offer my okra to the world, were unreservedly, often deliriously, happy with my hand-packed, small- batch pickled okra, and Angela’s Pepper-Pickled Foods was born.

There is so much lovely produce in Southeastern North Carolina, and so many foods pickle so well, that the growth of our line of products was inevitable. Today in our little kitchen on Carolina Beach Road in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Wilmington we make pickled cucumbers in a white balsamic vinegar blend with fresh lemon peel, pickled collards, pickled squash, peppers in seasoned vinegar, a second style of pickled okra – in addition to my famous classic pickled okra, and our newest treasure,- crunchy pickled Carolina peanuts.

We make our pickles by hand, a few jars at a time, using very fresh produce from North Carolina farmers, vinegar, distilled water, pure sea salt, and spices.  There are no preservatives or processed ingredients. And all our pickles are made with gorgeous chili peppers, in three degrees of heat: mild, getting hotter, hot.  The tastes you will find at Angela’s Pepper-Pickled Foods are a little different from anything you have had before, because no one else goes to all the trouble that we do – and there is a taste that is just right for you.

Angela’s Pepper-Pickled Foods are available in Wilmington on Saturday mornings at the Riverfront Farmers’ Market downtown, and Wednesday mornings at the Poplar Grove Farmers’ Market on Hwy 17 between Ogden & Hampstead. You can also stop by our shop, 2105 Carolina Beach Rd, Wilmington,NC, Monday - Friday 9am-4pm. Check out the "Local Retail Outlets" page for other locations. Please come see us.  I would love to meet you and to offer you a taste of something pepper-pickled good.

 Angela