You have got to be plum crazy to make chutney during July in Sicily, in 36 C., but that's what I did this afternoon, dear reader. I just had to use up the plums my kind neighbour had given me, so decided the quickest way of doing so was to prepare plum and ginger chutney. [Root ginger, by the way, is quite difficult to find here, so when I do see some on sale, I buy it and freeze it.] For my North American readers and others new to the word, "chutney" is a corruption of Hindi chatni, meaning "strongly spiced". The best way that I can describe chutney is that it is a kind of salsa, only thicker and it keeps for a long time. The British in India invented it as a way of preserving the exotic fruits and using the spices they found there. We eat it with cheese and cold meats. It is quite useless trying to serve chutney to the Sicilians for, as I've mentioned previously, they do not understand how we can mix sweet and sour tastes and many have an aversion to dried fruits.
Whilst I was at it, I also got around to bottling my plum liqueur. I must say I am pleased with its colour and aroma, but it cannot be drunk for at least another month! Tomorrow will be a day for putting the lids on the cooled chutney and placing little gingham "hats" on top of these....
welchcakes you do make me feel so lazy! I am sure the chutney will taste delicious. Freezing ginger;what a good idea. It isn't expensive here but I always feel guilty when I throw out whose dried up roots I haven't managed to use.
ReplyDeleteI do not blog anymore but I do think about you and still read your blog. (marymary.. Marina)
wow looks fantastic ... love the rich red colour
ReplyDeleteHi, mm. sorry you aren't blogging but nice to see you here. Before I realised you could freeze root ginger I used to plant it in a pot and dig some up when I needed it. [I got this from a Madhur Jaffrey book.]
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sally.
I know all about chutneys and I absolutely LOVE them! They're so good even with meats and chicken. Yummy - lucky you to have all that!
ReplyDeleteCookbook pleasseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!
ReplyDelete:)M
Plum chutney...imagine that on a nice piece of steak. Let us know how that liquer turns out, how potent it is :-)
ReplyDeleteAll looks very tasty!! Oh and Plum Liquer...mmmmm
ReplyDeleteLike the sound of the plum Chutney and the liqueur Welshcakes. You really are a very creative lady.
ReplyDeleteI make a sort of chutney/relish with plums, cinnamon, port, orange and lemon juice and zest, star anise. Goes well with the Christmas Honey baked ham.
Crikey I'm talking about Christmas and it's only June....Well it is overcast and raining !
Enjoy your sunshine,
Love to you, Simi and James too. xx
We Aussies inheritted chutney and pickles from the motherland... usually green or yellow, my grans made of zuccinni and corn...mainly served with hams, corn meat or pickled pork ... so not my favourite, but Id be willing to give Plum & ginger a go, the colour is gorgeous
ReplyDeleteWould love to see the recipe for your chutney. I used some of my unset rhubarb and (stem) ginger jam in a syllabub the other day which wasn't too bad, if sickly sweet
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip, Welshcakes, about both freezing fresh ginger and putting it in a pot. I have actually tried to grow ginger root in my garden and was semi-successful one year but really the growing season isn't long enough where I live.
ReplyDeleteThat looks so delicious, I am sure it will be worth all the hard work.
ReplyDeleteHi, Leslie. You're right - chutney is very versatile. I'd really like to do it, M! Ciao, nunyaa. I won't forget to let you know! Thanks, anne and cincin! Ciao, Trubes. YOur chutney /relish sounds wonderful. Funnily enough, the one thing I miss at Xmas is a baked ham. - Can't get the sort of hams you can bake here. Hope your weather improves soon. Love to you all and a big hug for Chloe from simi xxx Thanks, abbey. I think chutney is a food that brings back memories for many of us. Hi, WW. The recipe is a Patricia Lousade one from an old Sainsbury's cookbook. I imagine you could adapt almost any apple chutney recipe, though, by halving the amount of apples, makin up the fruit weight with plums, substituting ginger and allspice for any spices mentioned and maybe using cider or white vinegar in place of malt vinegar. Your syllabub idea has made me feel very hungry! Hi, flutterby. I used to keep the ginger plant indoors and this way of always having some to hand worked well for me for years. Auguri a tutti.
ReplyDeleteI used to plant ginger root, too. It made an interesting kitchen pot-plant! Your chutney sounds delicious, and thanks for telling me the derivation of the word - I'd never thought of it before.
ReplyDeleteGrazie mille, WL
ReplyDeleteThanks, dragonstar. I think I am going to start planting ginger in a pot again. Glad you liked my story of the word derivation.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, WW.