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Chow-Chow
1 head cauliflower broken fine, 1 head cabbage, sliced, 6 peppers, chopped, 6 small onions, sliced. Boil all together in salt water until tender, and drain. 3 pints of vinegar, 1 handful of white mustard seed. Add these to the drained articles and boil a few minutes. 1 cupful of sugar, half a cupful of made mustard, half an ounce of celery seed, half an ounce of turmeric. Stir them in thoroughly just before taking from the fire.
A straightforward Victorian mixed pickle: vegetables parboiled, then finished in spiced vinegar. The main thing to control is texture — the cauliflower and cabbage are cooked twice, and it is easy to end up with a jar of mush.
- Parboil briefly"Until tender" here means barely so — 3 to 4 minutes for cauliflower florets, less for the cabbage. The vegetables get a second boil in the vinegar, and anything fully softened in the first stage collapses in the second.
- Salt waterA working brine for this is about 1/4 cup coarse salt per quart of water. The salting is for seasoning and firmness, not preservation; drain well and press out excess liquid or the finished pickle will be watery.
- "6 peppers"In many American pickle recipes of this era an unqualified "pepper" means a sweet green bell pepper, though small hot peppers cannot be ruled out. Six bells would give roughly 4 to 5 cups chopped.
- Made mustardPrepared mustard from a jar — a plain yellow or mild brown, not dry mustard powder. Half a cupful is a substantial amount and carries much of the flavor.
- Weights to volumesHalf an ounce of celery seed is about 2 tablespoons; half an ounce of ground turmeric is closer to 1 1/2 tablespoons. A "handful" of white mustard seed is somewhere around 1/4 cup.
- Add the spice paste lastStirring the sugar, mustard, celery seed and turmeric in at the very end, as directed, spares them prolonged boiling, which can dull turmeric's colour and cook off the pungency of prepared mustard. A brief stir is enough to distribute them.
- Yield and storageYield depends on the size of the cabbage and cauliflower; expect several pints. The recipe gives no sealing method -- pack hot into clean jars, cool, and keep it refrigerated, where it will hold for a couple of months. For shelf-stable jars, follow a current tested processing schedule for mixed pickles.
- Rest before eatingChow-chow is harsh on the first day. A week in the refrigerator lets the mustard and turmeric settle into the vegetables.