Pear and ginger chutney

A few days before New Year’s Eve I took my friend Tina, a chef who is visiting London, on the obligatory foodie tour of Borough markets. This, of course, necessitated a visit to Neal’s Yard Dairy. I didn’t actually need any cheese but it is one of my favourite things to do and, if you are going to try everything in the store, you have to purchase something. So I decided to do some sort of cheese canapé as part of the New Year menu.

I started out with grand plans – a pear, Stichelton and walnut salad on chicory leaves – but I decided that a) chicory might be too bitter b) radicchio, my preferred alternative, would be too hard to find and c) it didn’t go with my other Asian themed canapés. I then thought I might try my hand at making oatcakes, which I’ve never done before, and make them really thin with a slice of Stichelton, a slice of crisp pear and a walnut on top. This would work well at the end of the meal, I thought, alongside the dessert canapé. In the end I couldn’t be bothered making oatcakes (I already had plenty to do) and I couldn’t find any ripe pears so I decided to make a chutney.

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Tommy K, Bloody Mary style

Updated on Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 9:49AM by Vix

People are often surprised that, as a ‘foodie’, I like certain foods deemed ‘junk’ by most. I am talking about tin spaghetti, plastic cheese, chicken nuggets, fish fingers... that sort of thing. I think really they are secretly pleased because, in all honesty, I have never met someone who didn’t secretly have some such vice. For me it goes back to childhood; my sister and I were only allowed these foods as treats so it still feels a little bit naughty indulging in them from time to time.

When we were in NZ, our host Dawn cooked a magnificent fry up the morning of the wedding (sadly, I have no photos, otherwise it would have been included in my post on the subject). As part of this feast, she cooked something I would never have dared try – ‘tin style’ spaghetti in tomato sauce. It was brilliant! Even my Mum (hater of all things junk) commented on how good it was. The trick was that she did not try to make it posh. There were no herbs or aromatics, it was just simple, sweet tomato sauce with intentionally overcooked spaghetti. Just like the tin... but better.

Now let me get something straight before you all give up on me now: I do not think tomato ketchup should be or ever would be labelled as junk – I’ve never met anyone who didn’t eat it. The above is relevant because, until recently, I was also of the opinion that this was something that one should not try to replicate, better to leave that to Mr Heinz. But, here's the thing, Dawn's tomato ketchup was homemade too.

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Tomato relish with ginger, coriander and chilli

Does anyone know the difference between chutney and relish?

I have tended to use the terms interchangeably, but with a preference for ‘relish’ since I think the double meaning is rather fitting; I certainly take delight in eating it.  I have always called this recipe a relish, but before posting it I wanted to check that I was using the right term.

I started by looking in the River Cottage Handbook No.2: Preserves by Pam Corbin. She begins by explaining that we “learnt about chutney-making from our Indian colonies in the nineteenth century, and authentic Indian chutneys are usually fresh preparations served with spicy foods”. So far so good, on this point I can find a general consensus. She continues,

The British interpretation of chutney is rather different: rich, highly spiced, sweet-sharp preserves, based on vegetables and fruit which are chopped small and cooked for a long time to create a spoonable consistency and mellow flavour. They often feature dried fruits too, which contributes natural sugar and textural contrast.

Relishes she defines as sitting somewhere between pickles and chutneys,

these are made from diced or chunkily cut fruit and vegetables but they are cooked for a shorter time than a chutney. They can be spicy, sweet, sour (or all three), may be eaten soon after making and should be kept in the fridge once opened.

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Vinaigrettes - here’s one that I prepared earlier

I have two core vinaigrettes that I make up in jars and always have ready in the fridge to use as salad dressing. They keep for ages, the only fresh ingredient (garlic) being preserved by the vinegar and oil. Since I will refer to these a lot in my recipes I thought I should do a separate post on them, so as not to continually be repeating myself.

Just a little point of trivia – always one to err on the side of caution, I was doing some research to ensure this was the correct use of the term ‘vinaigrette’. I was concerned that in order to fit the definition, the preparation must involve the slow pouring and whisking of oil into vinegar to create a creamy emulsion. As it turns out, this is just a style of making vinaigrette, but by no means a definition.

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