Italian food is one of the world’s most popular cuisines and you can probably find a pizza or pasta dish in every country at this point. But the flip side of that popularity is that a lot of Italy’s culture and cuisine has been adopted and adapted to the point that nobody really knows if it can even be called Italian anymore. This phenomenon can be seen clearly in the Italian-American condiment Giardiniera.
This unique vegetable pickle is a beloved staple in Chicago when it can be found in almost every grocery store but its roots can definitely be traced back to Italy. In Italian, Giardiniera means a female gardener which aside from the fact that it contains vegetables doesn’t really have any import on the dish itself.
There are two main types of giardiniera. Italian giardiniera consists of pickled vegetables served with vinegar and were originally used to preserve a large harvest. An important ingredient of Chicago-style Giardiniera is chopped vegetables - most commonly cauliflower, carrots, bell peppers, celery, and chile peppers - that are seasoned with vinegar and olive oil. In Chicago-style Giardiniera, which has its origins in the trends of late 19th century Chicago, it is used mostly as a condiment (as on an Italian sandwich). In Italian style, it is mostly used as part of an antipasto platter.
In this recipe, we’ve laid out the Chicago style so you can dabble in the cross-cultural wonders and get a taste of an American-Italian classic.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cauliflower florets chopped (about 1/4 head of cauliflower)
- 5 jalapeno peppers diced (use bell peppers for mild giardiniera
- 5 serrano peppers diced (or use sport peppers - optional, for hot giardiniera)
- 1 medium carrot diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- ½ cup salt
- 1 cup olive oil (extra virgin is best, though you can use vegetable oil)
- 1 cup vinegar
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon celery seeds
- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper (or to taste)
- Ground black pepper (to taste)
- ½ cup green olives chopped
Method:
- Add peppers, cauliflower, peppers, carrots, and celery to a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt. Cover with cold water and refrigerate for between 12-48 hours, covered.
- Drain and rinse away the brine. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, add garlic, oregano, celery seed, crushed red pepper flakes and ground pepper to taste. Add oil and vinegar (or water) and whisk to combine.
- Add to your vegetable mixture.
- Add chopped olives and mix well.
- Place it all into jars, ensuring the vegetables are covered with your oil mixture.
- Refrigerate at least 2 days before using.
