piccalilli

Meaning

Noun

• A yellow pickle relish made from cauliflower, vegetable marrow, and other vegetables, pickled with vinegar, salt, sugar, and spiced with mustard, turmeric, and other spices.
• A pickle, typically on a base of chopped green (unripe) tomatoes, but sometimes finely-chopped gherkins, and possibly including other vegetables.

Related

Similar words

• chow-chow, India relish
• relish

Origin

• Unknown, . Presumably variant of pickle, which itself is from Middle English pekille ("spicy sauce served with meat or fish") or pikel, from Middle Dutch pekel ("brine"); perhaps influenced by dialectal variants.
• Alternatively, may be related to paco lilla, in 18th century British cookbook The Art of Cookery (1747–1843; e.g., 1805 edition) by Hannah Glasse (1708–1770), also referred to as “Indian pickles”, which suggests an Indic source; compare mulligatawny, of Tamil origin, which also features turmeric prominently, and curry, of Tamil or Middle English origin (or blend). No relation to Piccadilly.