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Opinion
Life is Sour
[ 3 minute read ]
Strange Tomato Chutney Relish
I got carried away yesterday making Tomato Chutney. It turned into a relish that I might add as the tomato base on a pizza. For some reason I forget that the chutney would be a condiment to cheese or fish or something. I don't cook stuff like that any more. I make dishes that are rounded and complete and are not created to compliment anything. I am a culinary oaf.
'This wine perfectly compliments the fish, sir?'
'What is the percentage of alcohol?'
'It is ample sir. Not too high.'
'Do people drink it from the bottle without eating anything alongside it?'
'Sir, this is a fine wine.'
'Does it go with toad-in-the-hole?'
I don't do complimentary any more. Today, my world is made up of singularities.
I left a small jar of the weird tomato relish on my neighbour's doorstep with a note that included a sentence that said 'Don't worry, I made some for me and thought I would share it. If you don't want it, or don't like it, throw it away'. She will probably never acknowledge to me, what she will, or has, done with it. Certainly, I don't expect her to go on 'Dragon's Den' and promote a new recipe such as Levi Roots did with his 'Reggae Reggae Sauce' in 2007; and Bird's Eye will not be putting my strange Tomato Chutney Relish on their Chicken Chargrills any time soon.
Honestly, it cost more in electric to reduce the tomatoes down to a good consistency than it would to just buy a proprietary tomato sauce or ketchup. I had fun though, even if I had to make a special trip to source some distilled white vinegar which I didn't use. The acidity in my Tomato Chutney Relish came from lemon, lime and orange juice and the homegrown Ailsa Craig tomatoes.
I think the fifteen to twenty tomatoes, if they were bought from a supermarket, might have cost around £6 to £7. They made about 600g of Tomato Chutney Relish, or about the same as one and a half tins of Tomatoes in bulk. I get why the little Farmer's Market stalls have produce that is priced so highly. Outside my house I would have to sell the 600-700g I made for about £22, if I paid myself minimum wage and included the cost of electric for my cooker. 'Neighbour, you have a £7 gift on your doorstep!'
I could never measure things like that. What metric can we use for being a good neighbour? Surely, it is immeasurable.
Even if my neighbour looks at me weirdly for a year or two from now on, at least I will get something interesting to see every now and again. Better still, is the anticipation of speaking with her and seeing how long she can go without mentioning the gift. She is cool and everything, but I am not trying to woo her, court her or promote myself as anything other than I had too many tomatoes and needed to preserve them; she is kind, so I shared. It doesn't cost anything and I can do without the Tomato Chutney Relish anyway. Long ago, I stopped seeing luxuries as essential and the Tomato Chutney Relish has no nutritional value.
Life is sweet if I can make strange days come to life.
Life is Sour
All my posts: https://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oublog/view.php?u=zw219551
or search for 'martin cadwell -caldwell' Take note of the position of the minus sign to eliminate caldwell returns or search for 'martin cadwell blog' in your browser.
I am not on YouTube or social media
Life is Sour
[ 3 minute read ]
Strange Tomato Chutney Relish
I got carried away yesterday making Tomato Chutney. It turned into a relish that I might add as the tomato base on a pizza. For some reason I forget that the chutney would be a condiment to cheese or fish or something. I don't cook stuff like that any more. I make dishes that are rounded and complete and are not created to compliment anything. I am a culinary oaf.
'This wine perfectly compliments the fish, sir?'
'What is the percentage of alcohol?'
'It is ample sir. Not too high.'
'Do people drink it from the bottle without eating anything alongside it?'
'Sir, this is a fine wine.'
'Does it go with toad-in-the-hole?'
I don't do complimentary any more. Today, my world is made up of singularities.
I left a small jar of the weird tomato relish on my neighbour's doorstep with a note that included a sentence that said 'Don't worry, I made some for me and thought I would share it. If you don't want it, or don't like it, throw it away'. She will probably never acknowledge to me, what she will, or has, done with it. Certainly, I don't expect her to go on 'Dragon's Den' and promote a new recipe such as Levi Roots did with his 'Reggae Reggae Sauce' in 2007; and Bird's Eye will not be putting my strange Tomato Chutney Relish on their Chicken Chargrills any time soon.
Honestly, it cost more in electric to reduce the tomatoes down to a good consistency than it would to just buy a proprietary tomato sauce or ketchup. I had fun though, even if I had to make a special trip to source some distilled white vinegar which I didn't use. The acidity in my Tomato Chutney Relish came from lemon, lime and orange juice and the homegrown Ailsa Craig tomatoes.
I think the fifteen to twenty tomatoes, if they were bought from a supermarket, might have cost around £6 to £7. They made about 600g of Tomato Chutney Relish, or about the same as one and a half tins of Tomatoes in bulk. I get why the little Farmer's Market stalls have produce that is priced so highly. Outside my house I would have to sell the 600-700g I made for about £22, if I paid myself minimum wage and included the cost of electric for my cooker. 'Neighbour, you have a £7 gift on your doorstep!'
I could never measure things like that. What metric can we use for being a good neighbour? Surely, it is immeasurable.
Even if my neighbour looks at me weirdly for a year or two from now on, at least I will get something interesting to see every now and again. Better still, is the anticipation of speaking with her and seeing how long she can go without mentioning the gift. She is cool and everything, but I am not trying to woo her, court her or promote myself as anything other than I had too many tomatoes and needed to preserve them; she is kind, so I shared. It doesn't cost anything and I can do without the Tomato Chutney Relish anyway. Long ago, I stopped seeing luxuries as essential and the Tomato Chutney Relish has no nutritional value.
Life is sweet if I can make strange days come to life.