How Giardiniera Became A Chicago Staple
It's no secret (and not up for debate) that giardiniera is the ultimate condiment of the Windy City. If you've never tried it before, giardiniera is a relish-adjacent mixture of diced vegetables that have been pickled then soaked in oil. It can be hot or mild, but spicy is more common in the Chicago food scene, and it first came to Chicago with Italian immigrant home cooks.
Giardiniera started as a method of vinegar-pickling vegetables for preservation into the winter months. The method arrived in Chicago with Italian immigrants during the mid-1800s. By 1920, over 4 million people had arrived at Ellis Island from Italy, and in Chicago, a particularly high concentration of immigrants were arriving from Sicily, which explains the introduction of oil. Traditional Italian giardiniera packs large chunked vegetables (typically carrots, cauliflower, celery, and green olives) in vinegar alone. Sicilian-style (aka American or Chicago-style) giardiniera chooses peppers over olives and a combination of both vinegar and oil for the brine, typically neutral canola oil or mild olive oil.
Italian immigrants arrived in Chicago heavily from 1880 and 1914, as the city's booming rail system attracted laborers from southern regions including the Sicilians from Nicosia, who settled in the South Loop, expanding to the region now known as Chinatown. They quickly established the first Italian Catholic Church of the Assumption in 1880 and later the Scalabrinian church of Santa Maria Incoronata (patroness of Ricigliano) — and giardiniera was there for it all.
Sicilian immigrants cemented giardiniera into the city's culture as they helped build it
Today, from Cubs games to late night hotdog stands, Jewish delis, and sit-down pizza joints, foodies would be hard-pressed not to spy a jar of giaridniera nearby. At Manny's Deli, a Jewish stronghold in Chicago, the tables are equipped with ramekins of giardiniera for guests to top their matzo ball soup like chili oil in a Chinese restaurant. John's Food and Wine in Lincoln Park is serving martinis bobbing with giard-stuffed olives. Every Chicagoan has a different giardiniera recipe, and they're all regarded as a mononymous staple of the city.
It's all about the tanginess, acidity, richness, spice, and combination of textures. Giardiniera makes a killer topping for Italian beef sandwiches, salads, ramen, burritos, scrambled eggs, and more. To truly dine like a local, use it to top a slice of Chicago's famous deep-dish pizza, or add it to the already overloaded classic Chicago dog with yellow mustard, chopped white onion, sweet green relish, two slices of tomato, dill pickle, sport peppers, and celery salt, in that order.
According to local news outlet WBEZ Chicago, Midwest foodies put away an estimated 15 million pounds of giardiniera every single year. For the rest of us, don't despair. If you don't live in Chicago, gourmet pickled vegetables from long-standing brands like Marconi's, J. P. Graziano, and Mezzetta ship Chicago-style giardiniera nationwide (doing the Lord's work).