Pickles, chutneys and relishes all use vinegar as their their preservative. They are not only fantastic with a good lump of cheese but also can be used as glazes, stirred into gravy and sauces, used as a condiment with curries, added to sandwiches.
Let's start with some definitions borrowed from River Cottage Handbook 2 Preserves: River Cottage Handbook No.2: Pam Corbin, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: 9780747595328: Amazon.com: Books
Anyway, that means this recipe of mine (passed from my dear old Ma) is a pickle. Originally, I first learned this when I had baby tomato plants growing in my garden, and at the end of summer I'd have a bucket or two of tomatoes left over in various stages of ripeness.Pickles - clear. The British tradition of pickling vegetables or fruit entails raw or blanched produce that is whole or in large chunks. The ingredients are salted, rinsed and drained before placing in jars and covering in vinegar and spices.
Pickles - sweet. Large chunks of vegetables or cooked in sweetened vinegar and flavoured with spices. Sometimes cornflour is added to thicken the syrup / vinegar.
Chutneys. Originate from India and as such were freshly made as an accompaniment to a meal. In the UK they take a different approach and preserve fruits and vegetables in a savoury mix of spices, vinegar and sugar. They are rich, spiced and sweet. The fruit and / or vegetables are cooked for a long time until the consistency is smoother and spoonable. Good chutneys retain the flavour of their key ingredient. Chutneys are often left to brew before eating to ensure a mellow flavour.
Relishes. A mix of a pickle and chutney. Not cooked for as long as a chutney and can be eaten immediately.
Now I live in Asia I have to source the tomatoes first. When I was at the supermarket last week the baby tomatoes where $100 per kilo.... so I wasn't going to buy them for a pickle. But I asked a local friend and she got me a bag of green tomatoes from a local market and don't ask me how much they cost cos I don't know, she wouldn't hear of me giving her any money for them. So I'll give her a jar instead.
Ingredients
1-1 1/2 cups white wine vinegar
1/2 kg of green tomatoes
100 grams of baby corn (or cauliflower*)
5 small red onions*
1 cup of raisins*
2 large onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup of brown sugar
1 stick of cinnamon
3 dried cloves
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of curry powder
1 splash of Tabasco sauce or chilli flakes
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
3 teaspoons of cracked black pepper
3 teaspoons of salt
*I didn't use any of these items yesterday, but I could have. I'm also thinking diced carrot would go nicely as well.
Roughly chop the all the vegetables.
Add the white wine vinegar, sugar, garlic, spices and bring the mixture to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour, or until the pickles has thickened slightly.
Spoon the pickles into sterilised jars.**
** It is really important that you sterilise the jars properly, or they'll grow all sorts of nasty stuff. You can do this by boiling all jars and lids for a good 10 minutes prior to using them. I have a baby bottle sterilizer which I used when the missus wasn't around.
I had a cheese and pickles sandwich this morning to test and it tasted pretty good to me, possibly slightly too sweet. (I was sort of guessing all the amounts above, I might add a little more vinegar next time)