Preserving A Tradition
The Age
Monday April 21, 1997
In kitchens all over the land, cooks are spooning handmade tomato relish and chutney into jars in a salute to the past. Lisa Kearns reports.
IT'S MID-AFTERNOON on a glorious mid-autumn day. Soft, golden light streams into Kerry Allen's big, old kitchen in Footscray, illuminating a pan of cerise-colored tomato relish simmering on the stove.
The rich aroma of cooked tomatoes hangs around the homely weatherboard house for days afterwards, she says, and you just want to grab a chunk of bread and slather it with relish.
"It makes you feel you're all old-fashioned and traditional," says the 40-something Allen.
In kitchens all over the land, cooks are spooning handmade tomato relish and chutney into jars in a salute to the past. Lisa Kearns reports.
Right now, cooks with a taste for tradition are heading to the markets or into the garden for the last of the locally grown late-season tomatoes to make relish and chutney. The Victorian tomato season starts in late February and ends around Anzac Day (25 April). The riper and richer the tomato, the better the preserves, although tomatoes that refuse to ripen will be available for the next few weeks, and make excellent green tomato chutney.
In this age of faster and more convenient foods, preserve-making is considered a dying art. But according to John Roy, the preserves judge at the Royal Melbourne Show, people of every age vie for blue ribbons. "Older people, particularly men, tend to have more time and inclination to make preserves but all sorts of people enter (the competition). You just need a bit of motivation."
The relish and chutney competitions are fought passionately. Kerry Allen has been hard at work preparing this year's relish entry after carrying off the blue ribbon last year at her first attempt. The recipe is based on one in her mother's first cookbook, a grey paperback produced by New Zealand's Truth newspaper.
"I entered to knock my dad off his perch," she says. "We're an incredibly competitive family." Her father's relish won second prize a few years ago and Allen's mother and sister also enter, so far without success, she says gleefully.
For the past 20 years, Olimpia Bortolotto, of Bortolotto's in St Kilda, has been making big batches of her mother's sweet tomato relish. Making tomato sauce is a family event in the Italian community, she says, and maintaining the tradition keeps her in touch with her roots and culture.
Bortolotto laughs when she says she has no idea where her mother got the original recipe, which she has passed on to more people than she can remember. It has been honed over many years and making it has become an instinctive, ingrained pleasure. Her two adult daughters make their own now, and have added their own touches.
Italian relish is quite different from the Anglo-Saxon version; the vinegar is not boiled with the spices, and tomatoes and onions are added last, not first.
"We make about 12 litres once a week or every 10 days to serve at the restaurant," she says. "We serve it with cotechino (a pork sausage) and sauerkraut."
Over in South Australia's Barossa Valley, Joan Scholz surveys her garden with relish. Leaves from a magnificent elm tree are turning gold and ruby red and falling in drifts on to the front lawn. Out the back, the tomatoes are looking redder and richer by the day. Yes, it's about time to make her annual batch of tomato relish.
Scholz, who, with her son Peter, runs the Willows Winery, gets out her spattered Agriculture Department Cookbook, bought when she married 40 years ago and now just hanging on by a thread. It contains the best relish recipe she's come across.
She's not fussy about the type of tomato she uses; she says dry curry powder overpowers the taste of the odd dodgy tomato. Living in the country, she says, you make use of the abundant produce that's at your fingertips, whether it's walnuts, figs or tomatoes. "I just pick 'em and use 'em up."
Good recipes tend to get passed around. Margaret Lehmann, from the nearby Peter Lehmann Wines, asked Scholz for her recipe in the early 1980s after a tasting experience bordering on the sublime. "I still reckon it's the best!" says Lehmann. "Whether you call it relish or chutney (as Lehmann does), it's bloody good. And I've tried lots."
She makes it for the regular lunches the Tanunda Winery holds for visitors and the 200 grape-growers the company deals with at vintage time. It always goes down a treat.
Karen Dosser, of the Parlour and Pantry in Beechworth, got her tomato chutney recipe from her mother, and noticed it was the same as a co-worker's (also handed down).
One day she looked at the recipe glued on the bottle of Wild's Ezy Sauce (a mixture of strong vinegar and pickling spices) she had been buying from the supermarket. "And I thought, 'Here it is again - exactly the same recipe!"'
DOSSER now makes almost half a tonne of Ezy Sauce chutney every autumn. Two thirds is served with meals at her restaurant and the rest is sold to customers.
Scott McCrossen, the new chef at the Kazbar in Chapel Street, South Yarra, has been collecting chutney recipes for the past 10 years and found more during a recent stint at London's fashionable Mezzo restaurant.
He became interested in preserve-making as a child, at his grandmother's knee. "She grew her own fruit and vegies and always had more than she could use," he says. "I learnt by watching her. I used to find it very difficult to choose between staying in the kitchen so I could eat the chutney, and going out to play cricket."
The secret to good chutney and preserves is allowing it to mature, says John Roy. He had an ulcerated tongue after judging too many vinegary entries made at the last minute for the 1996 Royal Melbourne Show. Those in the know make their relish and chutney now so that by September, when the judging takes place, the flavors have had time to mellow. Purists caution against buying tomatoes from supermarkets because they are usually picked early and may be gas-ripened. The flavor, says Roy, is just not the same. The only substitutes out of season are good hydroponic tomatoes, available year-round.
Whether your heart's desire is a chunky relish or a piquant chutney, it's the balance of sweet and sour flavors that makes all the difference. It's salt against sugar; vinegar against tomato; cinnamon stick against clove.
Roy encourages preserve makers to stick at it; the balancing and tasting skills don't come overnight. But practice is its own reward.
"For about three hours' work, you have enough (preserves) to last through most of winter," he says. "More people should do it. It's something easy they can do themselves."
Kerry Allen concurs. It might not change the world, she says, but you have a real sense of achievement and satisfaction when the still-warm bottles are lined up and brimming with relish and chutney you've made yourself.
Relishing difference
WHAT'S the difference between chutney and relish? Texture, color and the amount of vinegar used.
Chutney is a sauce of Indian (Hindu) origin that contains small pieces of fruit or vegetables. Chutney uses more vinegar, sugar and salt than relish and is cooked for longer so that it becomes like a thick, soft jam that falls gently from a spoon.
Relish is a sweet pickle that has a looser consistency. It is made from coarsely chopped fruit or vegetables and takes less time to cook, so the fruit retains more shape and color.
The amount of vinegar used depends on the ripeness of the tomatoes, and on the acidity of the vinegar. A good fermented wine vinegar has more flavor and complexity than a cheaper distilled one.
Kerry Allen's tomato relish
Kerry Allen's blue-ribbon-winning relish. She says you don't have to use all the spices listed. Makes about two 450-millilitre jars.
1 kilogram vine-ripened or hydroponically-grown tomatoes
350 grams onions (2 medium-sized onions)
250 grams white sugar
1 tablespoon salt
about 1 cup malt vinegar
1 dessertspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Peel and chop tomatoes and onions. Sprinkle with the salt and leave in a glass or ceramic bowl overnight. This helps bring out flavor and draw off liquid. Next day, strain tomatoes and onions and put into a pan. Cover barely with vinegar and bring to boil. Add sugar, and stir until dissolved then simmer for about an hour.
In a small, heavy-bottomed frypan, dry-fry the spices for 30 seconds to one minute, until they become fragrant. Add a little liquid from the tomato mixture and stir spices into relish. Cook on a low-to-medium heat until the mixture thickens slightly (about five minutes). Ladle into jars with plastic lids.
Bortolotto's sweet tomato relish
Olimpia Bortolotto says this relish "keeps forever" when stored in a cool, dark place. Refrigerate after opening (it will keep for one month). Makes about two 500-millilitre jars.
500 grams brown sugar
500 millilitres white vinegar
2 cinnamon sticks
3 whole star anise
10 grams mustard seeds
3 bay leaves
1 kilogram onions, diced
1 kilogram tomatoes, peeled and diced
Combine the sugar, vinegar and spices in a heavy-bottomed pot. Heat gently until mixture caramelises and resembles amber-brown toffee. Add tomatoes and onions and cook on medium heat until it comes to the boil, then lower heat.
Reduce the mixture until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about one-and-a-half hours). Let cool then bottle and seal.
Karen Dosser's tomato chutney
Karen Dosser, of Beechworth's Parlour and Pantry, says she hasn't found a better chutney recipe than the one on the bottle of Wild's Ezy Sauce (made by Cerebos Foods). "The tomatoes don't have to be expensive, but they do have to be ripe." Makes about 1.25 litres.
2 kilograms ripe tomatoes, peeled
750 grams onions, diced
1 kilogram green cooking apples, peeled and diced
50 grams salt
625 grams sugar
100 millilitres Wild's Ezy Sauce
2 teaspoons mustard powder
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons cornflour
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
water
Combine tomatoes, onions, apples and salt in large glass or ceramic bowl, cover and leave to stand overnight. Put tomato mixture in large saucepan and bring to boil. Add sugar and Ezy Sauce (shake bottle before measuring out) and simmer, uncovered, for about one-and-a-half hours, or until a thick spooning consistency.
Combine remaining dry ingredients with enough water to make a smooth paste. Add to pan, stirring continuously. Cook for a further 10 minutes. Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal.
Joan Scholz's tomato relish
Use the ripest, richest tomatoes you can find for this traditional preserve. Makes about three
450-millilitre jars.
1.5 kilograms ripe tomatoes
500 grams onions (3-4 medium onions)
500 grams white sugar
1 tablespoon dry curry powder (Keens)
11/2 tablespoons dry mustard (Keens)
2 tablespoons plain flour
salt and pepper to taste
good quality white wine vinegar
Peel and chop tomatoes and slice onions. Put in a glass or ceramic bowl, sprinkle liberally with salt, cover and leave overnight.
The following day, pour off excess liquid, put tomatoes and onions into preserving saucepan and add sugar and enough vinegar to cover. Boil gently for about one hour.
Stir a little cold vinegar into dry ingredients to make a smooth paste. Remove saucepan from heat and stir paste into relish.
Boil for another hour, or until it thickens, stirring frequently. Bottle.
Scott McCrossen's green tomato chutney
Scott McCrossen, the chef at the Kazbar in South Yarra, recommends eating this on dry toast, crackers or a savory brioche. It is also good with meat and terrines. The tomatoes do not need to be peeled. Makes eight 500-millilitre jars.
3 kilograms green tomatoes
1 kilogram medium-sized onions
1 litre white-wine vinegar
500 grams raw sugar
500 grams raisins
15 grams black peppercorns
15 grams coriander seeds
200 grams Madras curry powder
12 cloves
6 bay leaves
Dice tomato and onion and put into a large heavy-based saucepan. Add remaining ingredients. Cook over a low heat for two to three hours, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to prevent it burning, until it is a soft jam-like consistency. (If reducing the recipe, cut cooking time.)
Equipment
* A wide, heavy-bottomed stainless steel or enamelled-iron saucepan. The wider the pan, the faster the evaporation rate. Brass, copper or iron pans are unsuitable as the acid in the vinegar corrodes the metals, tainting the preserves.
* A large bowl to hold the tomatoes when left salted overnight.
* A wooden spoon.
Heat-proof, wide-necked glass jars with airtight, vinegar-proof covers. Preferred covers are plastic, metal screw-top with plastic-coated lining, cellophane (with string or rubber-band) or combination of paraffin-wax and screw-top lid. All are available from supermarket preserving sections.
* A wide-mouthed funnel (available from kitchenware shops such as Scullerymade and Gabriel Gate Cookware Shop or Italian stores along Sydney Road, Brunswick/Coburg).
Sterilising jars
Wash jars and lids in hot, soapy water and rinse well. Plunge into hot water and bring to boil slowly. Boil for five minutes. Dry in a warm oven. Handle sterilised jars as little as possible.
Bottling
Ladle hot preserve into jars, using a stainless steel spoon (with thermo-plastic handle) and a jam funnel. Hot filling helps to keep it pasteurised. Fill to within one centimetre of top and tap jar gently to release air bubbles. Wipe rim with clean, damp cloth. Put on lid and invert jar. This helps to pasteurise lid. If using Cellophane, dip in clean water and place over top of jar until it becomes concave, then tie with string or attach rubber band.
Storage
Leave jars until cool, then store in a cool, dark place. Be careful not to store near an appliance that gives off heat, such as a dishwasher or refrigerator. Chutneys and relishes will last a couple of years if stored properly.
Leave jars unopened for at least one month, and preferably two or three, before use. This allows the flavors to mellow and the vinegar to taste less harsh. Relish should be refrigerated on opening. Chutney does not need refrigeration, because it has a higher vinegar content and is cooked longer.
© 1997 The Age