In a pretty PICKLE

Sous chef Michael Gaynor has found a way to turn imperfect cucumbers into a thriving business, writes

Christchurch pickle maker and chef Michael Gaynor doesn’t have a lot of spare time. The 27-year-old, who works fulltime as a junior sous chef at Sydenham’s 5th Street restaurant, has combined his love of food, cooking and design, into a fast-growing side business, Bones Pickles.

“I’m just really interested in making things,” Gaynor says.

“I’m producing whole pickles. They are great. You can chop them up and put them in a sandwich, and they are good on cheese boards, along with anything you want to work with really.”

The talented creative launched Bones Pickles after last year’s first wave of Covid-19.

Wellington-born and Christchurchraised, he proudly boasts that his pickles are hand cut, grown and produced in Canterbury, with no preservatives or artificial additives.

Gaynor began pickling two years ago, after he was struck with inspiration during a field trip with the University of Lincoln’s horticulture programme.

While considering ways to minimise farm waste, Gaynor saw opportunity in the reject, juvenile and misshapen telegraph cucumbers that were destined for pig feed.

“I thought, we could do something with this. So we did the first batch with a run of about 50 jars and just gave them out to friends, and there was a good response,” he says.

“A couple of months later, we decided to do the first big batch of around 80 kilos, which felt a lot at the time. Nine months later, we’re doing 300-350 kilos at a time now.”

Gaynor is grateful for the support of his employers at 5th Street, who allow him to use the restaurant kitchen to cold-process his pickles, before he completes the jarring and labelling.

“The cucumbers are cold, which helps retain the crunch. The mixture is just done through agitation. So I just blitz it to combine everything,” he says.

“They get salted for about two days, so I cover them in salt once every hour, and then wash all the salt off and put them in buckets for three days. I give them another rinse, and then a vinegar mixture goes on.

“They sit for about three weeks to a month, and then I can think about starting to sell them and put them in jars.”

Gaynor says local business competition is limited, but he hopes to change the fact that foreign pickles are the most widely available.

Bones Pickles products are currently only available online, and over the counter at 5th Street or South Town Club cafe near the central city.

“There [are] very few options that are local, most of them are Australian or from the Mediterranean.”

Gaynor leans on his partner, Canadian-born sommelier and winemaker Jasmine Black, to help with pickling, and the day-to-day running of the business.

“I’m terrible with admin and things like that, so Jasmine’s helping out there,” he says.

“She’s currently working in the horticultural industry at Zealandia, but she does a vintage with Greystone Wines.”

The couple share a “cramped” apartment in an old building “on the edge of Hagley Park”, but Gaynor has a dedicated creative space close at hand. “We’ve got an office right next door where

I do all of the design work. I also do a bit of that for 5th Street, and run the restaurant’s Instagram.

“There’s just something cool about producing things and making stuff and craft work.”

The Delta outbreak and forced restaurant closures cost what Gaynor estimates to be

80 per cent of his business, but his customer base has quickly adapted.

“This year, a lot of people started ordering online during Covid, which was great. [It’s amazing] the support I’ve had from people

I know, and restaurants – 5th Street, in particular. Without them this just wouldn’t be possible.”