Cornichons à la Française

Surely every gourmet interested in the French cuisine has, at one time or another, bought a jar (usually imported from the Loire city of Orléans) of these excellent tiny pickled cucumbers called cornichons. Mademoiselle Ray taught me how to make my own–a method as simple as boiling an egg. The only problem is to get hold of the miniature cucumbers, usually available as “pickling babies”