A Chicago-style dog is a beef frank fully loaded with yellow mustard, onions, pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato wedges and a dash of celery salt on a poppy seed bun.

If the sound of it makes your heart flutter, you don’t have to head to Chicago. You can buy Katie’s Mustard Slaw—the longer name is Katie’s Home Style, Old-Fashioned, Pool-Room Mustard Slaw.

It’s not exactly the same. It’s from Alabama. And it’s addictively delicious.

We taste a lot of products, and this blend of mustard with bell peppers, cabbage, carrots, onions and vinegar, spices, jalapeños and a bit of salt and sugar is a winner.

It’s a complex layering of flavors with a beautiful texture and a spicy kick, a riff on chow-chow*, a Nova Scotian and American pickle relish made from a combination of vegetables; and a relative of British piccalilli (which has a cauliflower base).

In Alabama and Tennessee, it is called chow-chow, mustard slaw or pool room slaw, and has been made and sold by southern Tennessee Amish for some 100 years. [Source: Serious Eats.]

Get yours here. You’ll be very happy!
 
 
HOW TO ENJOY KATIE’S MUSTARD SLAW

It’s a wonderfully versatile condiment, zingy and satisfying. Use it:

[1] Katie’s Original Mustard Slaw.

[2] Jalapeño Mustard Slaw (both photos © Katie’s).

 
…and with countless other foods. We admit to dipping a spoon into the jar for a mini snack.
 
A DELIGHT FOR WEIGHT WATCHERS

A tablespoon is just 10 calories, with zero calories from fat, 40mg sodium and 1 mg sugar. It’s a caloric bargain, waiting to add great flavor to your meals. All of the vegetables that Katie uses are bought fresh from a local farmers market.

Now the challenge: How to get it. Distribution is limited.

To order, email: katiesfoods@aol.com.

If you have to order a case, don’t worry: You’ll go through it quickly, and be happy to have jars for house gifts and stocking stuffers.

Katie is Katie Kilburn of Florence, Alabama. She began to make slaw and relish products for her family and the local high school football concession stand, using her mother-in-law’s recipe.

With the help of the Shoals Commercial Culinary Center, fortuitously located in her home town, she was able to tap into resources to make more slaw and relish for commercial sale.

What they don’t provide is marketing support. If you know anyone who wants to volunteer to help this wonderful product take off—including e-commerce and an effective Facebook page, contact Katie.

Equally as important, hand this review to your favorite retailer and ask that they bring in a few cases—and watch them fly off the shelves.

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*According to Wikipedia, chow-chow is “regionally associated” with the Southern United States, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, the Appalachian Mountains and soul food. The recipes vary greatly; some are sweeter, others more savory. The name is said to derive from the French word for cabbage, chou. It was popular with the Acadians of Nova Scotia, descendants of the 17th-century French colonists, who emigrated to Louisiana.