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Place of origin | United Kingdom |
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Main ingredients | pickled vegetables and spices |
Piccalilli, or mustard pickle, is a British [1] interpretation of South Asian pickles, a relish [2] [3] of chopped and pickled vegetables and spices. [4] Regional recipes vary considerably.
The Oxford English Dictionary traces the word to the middle of the 18th century when, in 1758, Hannah Glasse described how "to make Paco-Lilla, or India Pickle". [5] An apparently earlier reference is in Anne Blencowe's Receipt Book, written c. 1694, which has "To Pickle Lila, an Indian Pickle" credited to Lord Kilmory. [6]
The more familiar form of the word appears in 1769, in Elizabeth Raffald's The Experienced English Housekeeper , as "To make Indian pickle, or Piccalillo". [7] Richard Briggs, in his 1788 The English Art of Cookery , similarly calls it "Picca Lillo". [8] The spelling "piccalilli" can be seen in an advertisement in a 1799 edition of The Times. [9]
British [11] piccalilli regularly contains the common vegetables cauliflower, onion, shallot, runner bean, carrot, courgette and gherkin, with the seasonings flour, vinegar, ginger, garlic, coriander, mustard powder and turmeric. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
Available from major British supermarkets, more finely chopped, is "sandwich piccalilli". It is used as an accompaniment to foods such as sausages, bacon, eggs, toast, cheese, and tomatoes. It is eaten as a relish with cold meats such as ham and brawn, and with a ploughman's lunch.
It is usually made in the autumn, when pickling onions become available. As well as being a commercial product, piccalilli is a mainstay of Women's Institute and farmhouse product stalls.
An unsweetened variation of British piccalilli is found in Cyprus (including northern Cyprus). It is without baby onions, with a milder mustard sauce, and with the addition of carrot pieces. Piccalilli is known in Cyprus as πίκλα (pikla) in Cypriot Greek, and bikla in Cypriot Turkish. It is served as a condiment, and occasionally as a meze dish.
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In the Northeastern United States, commercial piccalillis are made with a base of sweet peppers or green tomatoes. This style is somewhat similar to sweet pepper relish, with the piccalilli being distinguished by having a darker red or green color and, like British piccalilli, the chunks are larger and it is slightly sweeter. [17] [18] It is commonly used as a topping on such foods as hamburgers and hot dogs. British-style, yellow, piccalilli is also available.
In the Midwestern United States, commercial piccalillis are based on finely chopped gherkins. Bright green and on the sweet side, they are often used as a condiment for Chicago-style hot dogs. This style is sometimes called "neon relish". [19]
In the Southern United States, piccalilli is not commonly served. [20] In its place, chow-chow, a relish with a base of chopped green (unripe) tomatoes, is offered. This relish may also include onions, bell peppers, cabbage, green beans, and other vegetables. While not similar to other piccalillis, chow-chow is often called as such and the terms may be used interchangeably. [21] [22]
In the Western United States, piccalilli is uncommon.
A far spicier variant of piccalilli comes from the former Dutch colony of Suriname, where traditional British piccalilli is mixed with a sambal made of garlic and yellow Madame Jeanette peppers. This piccalilli is often homemade but can also be bought in jars in Dutch corner shops. Whilst Surinamese piccalilli is similar in appearance to ordinary piccalilli, the taste is much spicier.
As a term for a mixed collection, piccalilli lends its name to several books of poems, for example, Piccalilli: A Mixture, by Gilbert Percy (1862), [23] and Dilly Dilly Piccalilli: Poems for the Very Young (1989), by Myra Cohn Livingston. [24] Mr Piccalilli is the name of a character in the children's book Mr Pod and Mr Piccalilli (2005), by Penny Dolan. [25]
The song "Lily the Pink", recorded in 1968 by UK comedy group The Scaffold, includes a humorous reference to piccalilli when describing Lily's eventual demise, in the lyric "...and despite her medicinal compound, sadly Picca-Lily died". [26] The song was based on an earlier folk song "the Ballad of Lydia Pinkham", which celebrated a herbal remedy invented by the eponymous heroine, marketed from 1876 as "Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound". The connection between piccalilli and the vegetable compound is in name only, as the recipes differ completely.
Tartar sauce is a condiment made of mayonnaise, chopped pickles and relish, caper, and herbs such as tarragon and dill. Tartar sauce can also be enhanced with other herbs, lemon juice, and olives. It is most often served with seafood dishes such as fish and chips, fish sandwiches, fish fingers, fried oysters, and calamari.
A chutney is a spread typically associated with cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt, or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion, or mint dipping sauce.
Egg salad is a dish consisting of chopped hard-boiled or scrambled eggs, mustard, and mayonnaise, and vegetables often including other ingredients such as celery.
Mixed pickles are pickles made from a variety of vegetables mixed in the same pickling process. Mixed pickles are eaten much like other pickles: in small amounts to add flavor and to accent a meal. Mixed pickles appear in many different world cuisines.
A relish is a cooked and pickled culinary dish made of chopped vegetables, fruits or herbs, typically used as a condiment to enhance a staple. Examples are chutneys and the North American relish, a pickled cucumber jam eaten with hot dogs. In North America, the word "relish" is frequently used to describe a single variety of finely chopped pickled cucumber relish, such as pickle, dill and sweet relishes.
Rémoulade is a cold sauce. Although similar to tartar sauce, it is often more yellowish, sometimes flavored with curry, and often contains chopped pickles or piccalilli. It can also contain horseradish, paprika, anchovies, capers and a host of other items.
Deviled eggs, also known as stuffed eggs, curried eggs or dressed eggs, are hard-boiled eggs that have been peeled, cut in half, with the yolk scooped out and then refilled having been mixed with other ingredients such as mayonnaise, mustard and sprinkled with paprika, cinnamon or curry powder. They are generally served cold as a side dish, appetizer or a main course during gatherings or parties. The dish's origin can be seen in recipes for boiled, seasoned eggs as far back as ancient Rome, where they were traditionally served as a first course. The dish is popular in Europe, North America and Australia.
A Chicago-style hot dog, Chicago Dog, or Chicago Red Hot is an all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun, originating from the city of Chicago, Illinois. The hot dog is topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, bright green sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt. The complete assembly of a Chicago hot dog is said to be "dragged through the garden" due to the many toppings. The method for cooking the hot dog itself varies depending on the vendor's preference. Most often they are steamed, water-simmered, or less often grilled over charcoal.
Chow-chow is a pickled dish from the American South.
Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects the food's texture and flavor. The resulting food is called a pickle, or, if named, the name is prefaced with the word "pickled". Foods that are pickled include vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, meats, fish, dairy and eggs.
South Asian pickle is a pickled food made from a variety of vegetables, meats and fruits preserved in brine, vinegar, edible oils, and various South Asian spices. The pickles are popular across South Asia, with many regional variants, natively known as lonache, avalehikā, uppinakaayi, khatai, pachadi or noncha, achaar, athāṇu or athāṇo or athāna, khaṭāī or khaṭāin, sandhan or sendhan or sāṇdhāṇo, kasundi, or urugaai.
Chicken salad is any salad with chicken as a main ingredient. Other common ingredients include mayonnaise, hard-boiled egg, celery, onion, pepper, pickles and a variety of mustards.
Different areas of the world have local variations on the hot dog, in the type of meat used, the condiments added, and its means of preparation.
A pickled cucumber – commonly known as a pickle in the United States and Canada and a gherkin in Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand – is a usually small or miniature cucumber that has been pickled in a brine, vinegar, or other solution and left to ferment. The fermentation process is executed either by immersing the cucumbers in an acidic solution or through souring by lacto-fermentation. Pickled cucumbers are often part of mixed pickles.
Indian relish is a spicy relish used as a condiment or side dish. It consists of variety of vegetables and fruit that can include chopped bell peppers, sweet onion, garlic, tomatoes, sour apples, mustard, cloves, white wine vinegar, crushed red pepper flakes, ginger, and sugar. Recipes for Indian relish started appearing in cookbooks during the 1700s. Indian relish was imported from India and became popular in England and Scotland during the 18th century.