Please keep the jars.

Passport & Plate - Meryls Relish

Australia | Wednesday, March 4, 2015 | 5 photos

Ingredients
Paste
2 tbsp. Curry Powder
3 tbsp. Mustard Powder
1/2 tbsp. Cayenne Pepper Powder

Tomato Mix
3kg of tomatoes
1 cup of vinegar
1 kg of onions
1 kg sugar
good pinch of salt

 

How to prepare this recipe
Paste
Mix all the ingredients together with a little vinegar to form a thick paste.
Stand aside.

Tomato Mix
Roughly cut washed tomatoes and peeled onions and place in a large deep saucepan.
Add vinegar and sugar and put on to boil.
Boil for an hour or until most of the tomato has broken down.
Blitz lightly to break down further. Don't overdo this.
Add premixed paste, stir in well and cook for another hour or so.
Taste and adjust seasoning to suit.

Pour into clean jars.
Label jars.
Best kept for 12 months in a dark place.

Mixture can be doubled.
Enjoy with meat, savoury pastries or use on pizza bases (like we do).

 

The story behind this recipe
I grew up in country Victoria and for years (and years) when ever we returned home to visit Mum, we would always collect either a couple of jars of relish or a bottle of sauce (or both). Even though my siblings and I were always appreciative (and still am), I think we did take it for granted. A few years ago I thought I had better start and learn how to do these all so familiar things my self. So three summers ago when Mum was planning to visit us in the city, I asked if we could spend part of the weekend making her relish. After saying yes, the next thing she said was 'Do you have enough jars?' There was always a request when we took her relish 'Please keep the jars'. She said she was happy help to do a batch as she also needed to restock her pantry and I reminded her to not forget her recipe. This is when I learnt it was actually Meryl's recipe, another local lady from my home town (and I always thought it would have been my grandmas...). Any hoo, we decide to do a double batch and she brought down all the ingredients except for the tomatoes, which we bought from a local market here in Melbourne. I remember it was quite a hot day and combined with the smell of the cooking relish, it bought back memories of my childhood summer when Mum would be making the relish and us kids would be looking for towels so we could go for a swim in the dam. When we returned a few hours later, the jars would be all lined up, cooling before being stored. I have since made it 3 more times, recently being the other weekend. I have passed this recipe on to friends who now call it 'Kerry's Relish Recipe'. I few months ago I ran into Meryl while up home and I told her how I had been using her recipe. She mentioned garlic, Mum never told be about the garlic, so I suppose it is now my recipe because I think it is just fine without the garlic.