Pickles

[Duck59]

In this house, the next curry is never more than a few days away, so the kitchen cupboards are usually stocked with a goodly selection of pickles and chutneys. A personal favourite accompaniment to a curry is a combination of the spicy and the sweet, so for example a sharp lime pickle and a mango chutney.

At one stage - and there is no exaggeration here - we had four different types of garlic pickle in the cupboard. Patak's is the one you see most often and very good it is, too. Ahmed's is also excellent. I recall one called Mitchell's, although it was produced in Pakistan, so who Mitchell was, I know not. If that lot failed to do the trick, we had a jar of garlic chutney, too.

Lime and garlic pickle also go very nicely with toasted cheese, though not necessarily both at the same time.

Any pickle - or chutney - favourites or cravings?

 

[L_B]

We love pickles. I don't think I have ever had any that I didn't like. My favorite are Lady Asburn with are a mustard type of pickles. You can go wrong with garlic dill pickles. We eat those with everything. Butter and Butter pickles are another type of pickle that we always have on hand. They are sweet. Another thing I really enjoyed are the hot, pickled peppers. I put those on everything. I really like the heat.

 

[Morning Glory]

One favourite is Patak's aubergine. I've tried to replicate it many times by using the ingredients listed on the jar but fail to achieve the right taste. By the way, as you might see from @L_B 's post, I think our American friends generally think of pickles as cucumber type pickles (similar to our dill pickle). Here, we tend to use the terms 'chutney' and 'pickle' rather indiscriminately. Patak's aubergine pickle, for example, is strictly speaking, a chutney.

 

[winterybella]

Not a big fan but had some recently while abroad. It came with the dish and I wasn't too sure what kind it was but it was tasty and I ate it. It was possibly cucumber.

 

[L_B]

One favourite is Patak's aubergine. I've tried to replicate it many times by using the ingredients listed on the jar but fail to achieve the right taste. By the way, as you might see from @L_B 's post, I think our American friends generally think of pickles as cucumber type pickles (similar to our dill pickle). Here, we tend to use the terms 'chutney' and 'pickle' rather indiscriminately. Patak's aubergine pickle, for example, is strictly speaking, a chutney.

Thanks for pointing this out I was not aware of that. I am learning something new when I come here about different food and food terms around the world.

 

[Duck59]

I think we tend to be a bit random in terms of the names of pickles. My interpretation is of a pickle being spicy and a chutney being sweet; this doesn't always follow because we have 'sweet pickles' such as the ubiquitous Branston Pickle. For Indian relishes, I think the 'spicy - sweet' terminology works better. I have both garlic pickle and garlic chutney in the house and the latter is much sweeter.

 

[Morning Glory]

I think we tend to be a bit random in terms of the names of pickles. My interpretation is of a pickle being spicy and a chutney being sweet; this doesn't always follow because we have 'sweet pickles' such as the ubiquitous Branston Pickle. For Indian relishes, I think the 'spicy - sweet' terminology works better. I have both garlic pickle and garlic chutney in the house and the latter is much sweeter.

I think its become a mess in the UK. I'd agree that 'chutney' should refer to sweeter preserves and 'pickles' should mean, well, more 'piquant'. I'm not sure I agree with you regarding Indian pickles being closer to the definition. My beloved Brinjal (Aubergine) pickle is in fact, really rather sweet, although tantalisingly hot.

 

[Morning Glory]

Branston pickle is my daughter's favourite. She has it in cheese sandwiches and nothing else will do. We once told her that the Branston pickle factory had burned down and that supplies might be cut off. She got very upset. The thing is... it was true! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/3974043.stm
Blimey, that was 12 years ago! She was 15 years old then. And I'm still making her cheese and Branston pickle sandwiches now.

 

[Berties]

To me a pickle is something preserved in vinegar ,cabbage ,beetroot ,onions
And a chutney sweet preserved veg or fruit ,but it does change to where you are ie mango chutney and various sweet sambols for curry
We make a lot of pickles and chutneys at home,
Pickles,as above and chutneys we make apple,runner bean ,pumpkin,rhubarb,squash to name a few

 

[Duck59]

I think its become a mess in the UK. I'd agree that 'chutney' should refer to sweeter preserves and 'pickles' should mean, well, more 'piquant'. I'm not sure I agree with you regarding Indian pickles being closer to the definition. My beloved Brinjal (Aubergine) pickle is in fact, really rather sweet, although tantalisingly hot.

Patak's brinjal pickle is one of the few that I'm not that keen on, possibly because of its sweetness. Having said that, I like the fruity sweetness of mango chutney. We tried this one a few weeks ago, a Fair Trade product from Swaziland. Very nice it was, too.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

I always love sweet pickles relish of young cucumber and I am using it as a side dish when we are eating fried fish. Sometimes I am using it as a garnish to sandwiches like hotdog, tuna and egg. It really adds flavor to the sandwiches. I also had recipes for my chicken, pork and beef that I make use of sweet pickles relish and it makes the dishes more delicious.

 

[Morning Glory]

Patak's brinjal pickle is one of the few that I'm not that keen on, possibly because of its sweetness. Having said that, I like the fruity sweetness of mango chutney. We tried this one a few weeks ago, a Fair Trade product from Swaziland. Very nice it was, too.

View attachment 2198

That looks interesting. Its funny but I don't much like mango chutney as I find it too sweet! I'm not very sweet oriented so I'm not sure why I like Patak's aubergine so much. I confess that I often mix it with Mr Naga though. And if you don't know Mr Naga then you could be in for a treat - or maybe not! I am a complete chilli head after all!

 

[Sue Veed]

Years ago we used to like Epicure brand mango chutney, but a new management team tried to force their outlets to order unfeasibly large quantities, with the result that many refused to buy any products from them, and it's quite possible that the firm went bust as a result - they certainly deserved to.
The lack of a nearby stockist led me to try making my own, when I came across some cheap mangoes, and was the start of my adventures in making preserves. My version is less sweet than most commercial varieties, and contains more mangoes than all the other ingredients combined. It's not unusual to find chutney on sale where the first ingredient is sugar, and I've even seen some where the next on the list is apples! As well as mangoes, mine has roughly chopped onions, chopped sultanas, julienne strips of ginger and red chillies, unrefined sugar and whatever mix of freshly ground spices takes my fancy at the time. The last batch also incorporated about 2/3 of a pineapple which would otherwise have gone to waste:

Edited: forgot to mention malt vinegar as an ingredient!

 

[kgord]

I never considered chutney to be a pickle, but I guess in some respects it is a similar product. I have heard that chutney pairs very well with grilled cheese. It is funny this topic is about pickles...I was just watching an old TV episode of the Andy Griffith show...where Andy and Barney had to pretend to like their Aunt's homemade pickles...which according to impartial observers, tasted like kerosene.

 

[Duck59]

I didn't realise that Patak's changed their recipe for lime pickle, but change it they evidently did. The result was not, it seems, a raging success and they have reverted to the original (well, that's what they're saying).

http://www.theguardian.com/business...verts-to-old-recipe-after-social-media-outcry