Chowchow

Chowchow is a pickled vegetable condiment designed to preserve the best of summer's bounty. It appeared in many early Southern cookbooks as "piccalilli" and "Indian pickle," but regardless of what it was called it always consisted of vegetables pickled in a canning jar and served cold as a condiment. It will look different depending on where you find it, but often includes tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers. Some chowchow recipes might contain carrots, beans, or even cauliflower. 

Its origins are widely debated, with some saying it came from China, others insisting it came from Canada via the Acadian people who settled in Louisiana. This recipe, shared by Jessica B. Harris, originates with her childhood friend Charlotte Lyons. Lyons' version includes cabbage and dried pico de pajaro chiles for a kick along with heirloom tomatoes. Lyon worked as Ebony Magazine's food editor for 25 years, from 1984 to 2010, but this chowchow recipe goes back before her storied food career to when she was a kid in Atlanta. 

The recipe began with her great grandmother and was passed down through her grandmother and mother who each put their own spin on it. Lyons' variation is the perfect blend of sweet and hot, so good she once marketed it as Greenie's Country Kitchen Chow Chow and managed to get Walmart interested. It truly goes well on anything from pork chops to greens. It can be folded into deviled eggs or heaped onto hotdogs and hamburgers. The options are pretty much endless.