Madeleine Roux: Moveable Feast
In our part of the Klein Karoo, called the Koo Valley (yes, like the tin of jam), fruit is often so plentiful you can’t give it away. Comes the apricot season, new residents to the town delight in paying a rand or two for a bagful. Two weeks later crates of unripe or rotten fruit are left at their back doors for free.
Same with quinces, pears and guavas. And something must be done with this unwanted bounty.
Making jam is too stressful. It’s an art acquired over many years of anxious labour over setting points. So we make chutney, atchar or pickles instead.
The mouth-watering names of all these spice-laden relishes are fascinating in themselves and cooking chutney is a laid- back business, almost fool-proof and very satisfying. It doesn’t need to set like jam, it won’t burn easily and you can do something else while it’s cooking.
You can add almost any dried fruit to flavour the basic fruit-sugar-vinegar mix. If you don’t have raisins, use diced dried fruit, or chopped dates. Chutney doesn’t require exact amounts of ingredients, as you simply cook the mass until it looks right, and if it becomes too dry, you add water.
Add spices entirely according to your own taste. In fact, make two pots of chutney simultaneously – one for mild taste, the other loaded with chilli and garlic, for personal use.
The resulting aromatic sludge, poured into second-hand mayonnaise and peanut butter jars, looks impressive and always tastes wonderful.
It will keep for weeks without being sterilised (the vinegar preserves it) and of course acquires more flavour the more it ages. Chutney made from fruit donated by a neighbour is hugely welcome when you hand the filled jars back to her over the fence.
Atchar is another kind of relish which is fun to make when there’s a glut of fruit. Names get a bit confusing here: atchar is a strong, oil-based condiment while chutney is based on fruit, vinegar or sugar. Atchar is often referred to as a pickle, but it’s not at all the same as beetroot pickle or pickled onions.
Atchar is often strongly flavoured with chilli and whole peppercorns, bay leaves and cardamom seed. As with chutney, it’s a cinch to make, so turn that basket full of lemons, mangoes or hard pears into your personally flavoured relish.
There are a dozen variations on lemon atchar and this one looks beautiful as well as tasting delicious. I have never seen it in a shop.
Put two teaspoons coarse salt in a clean, wide-mouthed jar. Quarter three or four nice-looking lemons, but don’t cut right through. Remove pips.
Rub one teaspoon coarse salt into each lemon, close them and pack into the jar. Press the layers down hard. Insert one whole red chilli, six coriander seeds, 10 black peppercorns and one bay leaf into the sides.
Squeeze another lemon over the fruit, sprinkle more coarse salt on top and close the jar tightly.
Keep atchar three to four weeks in the fridge before opening and serve with anything from curry to sliced ham.