Chutney is a sweet and sour condiment with varying levels of spicy enhancement. It is a traditional part of Asian cookery. Chutney has inspired poetry:

Something muttony can only be improved by something chutney.

The above must have been penned by some woman forced to spend more of her life than she wanted in the presence of sheep and possibly a long way from the land of her birth.

A form evolved in English kitchens during the 19th and 20th centuries when sugar was widely available.  The making of chutney would have been part of the annual session of bottling which took place in September and August when apples and tomatoes were plentiful.  The spicing would have been adapted to the taste of the household for which it was being made.

Follow the link for the hand-written source of this recipe, which may date from the interwar period.

Recipe

Take 1½ lb of apples (peeled and quartered), 1 lb of ripe tomatoes, 1  lb of raisins (stoned and cut finely), 1 lb Demerara sugar, 1 oz. mustard, 1 oz. pepper and 1 quart best vinegar, 1 teaspoon of salt.

Mix thoroughly and boil over a slow fire for two hours.  Then bottle for use.

Page Created: 21st August 2007