Wednesday 27 July 2011

Cherry Plum Ketchup


Here's the recipe from my plum ketchup experiment the other day. It's not quite got the HP sauce taste I was aiming for, maybe due to the lack of dried fruit compared to the Cherry Plum Chutney recipe, but it is a lovely, tangy, tingly on the tongue sauce and such a beautiful colour too.

Norfolk Kitchen Cherry Plum Ketchup.
2 kilos cherry plums
2 onions chopped
440ml vinegar (any kind except malt)
320g sugar
30g ground ginger
1tsp cayenne pepper
2oz salt
Generous pinch mixed spice

Stone the plums, add them to a pan with all the other ingredients. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 40 minutes until the mixture is thick and jammy. Briefly blend everything together (I used a stick blender) then push through a sieve into a clean pan. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Makes approx 2 litres.

I'm not sure how long this will keep though I suspect it's not long as it's fairly light on the vinegar and sugar. To get around this I've got one bottle in the fridge and have put the excess into plastic bottles and stored them in the freezer.

The main advantage of home made ketchups versus shop bought, in my opinion, is their natural non-plasticy taste which gives them greater versatility. They're perfectly acceptable poured over most things I would never introduce to Heinz, like Pizza, omlettes or cheese on toast.

Right then, next on the experiment list: Yellow Bullace and ginger cordial.

8 comments:

  1. Sounds very saucy. Cannot wait to try it.

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  2. Sounds good. I was just reading in the Colchester gazette that some residents want a cherry plum tree chopped down as the fallen fruit is making the pavement dangerous. Can you believe it - If I lived near by I would be out picking up all the free fruit and making cherry plum ketchup! I bet all these moaning people then go to Tesco and spend a fortune on tasteless plums!

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  3. That's horrendous! I was only saying today the Council should plant fruit trees in local parks etc so that people can go and pick some free fruit! Crazy.

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  4. I work at a Council and we got a complaint letter last year, saying how disgusting a footpath was because all the cherry plums had fallen on it etc etc.

    Bonkers.

    Will definitely be trying this recipe!

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  5. Maybe you should've sent them a link to this blog - they just need some recipe ideas! I think a lot of people don't know you can eat them, we always get asked when we're picking them. Once they know the plums are edible they're much more interested. We've lost confidence in wild food in this country.

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  6. I remember having the "Council should plant fruit trees" conversation with somebody or other. Their response was "No. You can't do that. People will just pick all the fruit." Er.. Yes, surely that's the point?

    And when picking apples, we had a bloke come up to us and say they should be cut down because they "encourage rats"! What?

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  7. Hi! I was directed here from the Really Good Life Blog. Your recipe sounds great and I shall be trying it - thanks!
    Away to have a nosey round ;) Mo

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  8. Welcome - hope you like it!

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