If you ever receive a phone call at this time of year from any of your friends or neighbours that begins with the words "I just wondered if you'd like some apples, plums, etc, we have a large tree(s) at the bottom of our garden, and thought of you..." Faites attention.
These crab apples are perfect for chutney
When I innocently picked up the phone a couple of days ago it was to a dear friend who was suggesting Lesley and I harvest his crab apple tree in exchange for a couple of jars of our finest home made chutney. It would have been ungracious to say "Sorry we haven't the time" or "Crab apples aren't my thing" so, one responds with the appropriate enthusiasm and a date and time for a pick is arranged. Picking the fruit is the easy part, even in temperatures as high as the ones we are currently (enjoying?) and it wasn't until Lesley and I had settled ourselves into our kitchen, surrounded by some of the Dordogne's finest fruit, along with bowls, peelers, sugars, vinegar, raisins, ginger, habenero peppers, and plenty of onions, did we begin to realise the real work was just about to begin. Stuck up a tree, gallantly tossing plump fruit into a bucket with careless abandon, one tends to forget that each piece has to be examined, then disected, peeled, cored and finally chopped before being allowed into your favourite jam making pan.
When we say 'Faites Maison' this is what we mean
Some of the raw material
I am an advocate of the continental type of pull peeler, whilst Lesley likes to rely on the slightly more conservative 'traditional' type peeler. Whatever your weapon of choice, when confronted with three large buckets of apples and two equally large ones of plums it doesn't really make that much difference. I was reminded of my father, who as far as I remember, used to spend very little time in the kitchen, but always referred to potato peeling as 'spud bashing'. I think he was harking back to his army days, but I find it hard to imagine him, perhaps after some mideameanor or another, on potato peeling fatigue. He would have preferred running the bar, I suspect, given the choice.
Everything you need for a good home made chutney
So we bashed away at this darn fruit for well over three hours. Peeling small crab apples quickly and efficiently is fraught with some danger, particularly with my preferred type of peeler. Compared to the cutting and stoning of the tiny plums, the apple peeling was an absolute breeze and it was with a sigh of great relief when the last bits of fruit entered the pan and the serious business of boiling the fruit began. We added a little bouquet of peppercorns, cloves and mustard seeds to each batch, just to add that little piquancy that all decent chutney needs.
The chutney being jarred
After much jar and lid boiling, and the cutting of brown paper seals, the mixture was offered into each jar, gently tamped down and the paper seal applied. Finally the labels with the relevant information were applied to each jar, all 25 of them. Like good wine, chutney improves with age and we believe it should rest for at least six months. Unfortunatley our theory is somewhat flawed, because we eat curry so often we find it almost impossible to follow our own suggestions.
Enough to last until Christmas
Once you have dipped into the world of making your own chutneys you will find it impossible to go back to Pataks finest. So do something worthwhile in the kitchen this summer. Put aside a weekend. Firstly go gleaning and get out into the countryside and explore the trees and hedgerows for some of nature's free gifts. Then hunker down in your kitchen with your loved one and begin to make your chutney. Like cultivating wine there is something to be said about capturing some of summer and autumn and putting it into a bottle or jar. During the protracted months of winter what better antidote than to remind yourself of summers past. Place a large dollop on the side of your curry dish (home made of course!) or a fine Brebis, Cheddar or Comte and dream of those long hot days...
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