I notice we have some gooseberries on our bush and coincidentally I came across a recipe for gooseberry chutney. We don’t eat desserts, and we don’t eat a lot of jam, so maybe gooseberry chutney might be the way to go? Nobody seems to know why the fruit was called a goose-berry, nothing about it is remotely connected to geese, however it is a tasty and sharp fruit so it should make a great chutney to go with cheese or ham.
Gooseberry chutney
to make 5lbs:
- 2¼ lb gooseberries, topped and tailed
- ¾ lb onions, finely chopped
- ¾ pint vinegar
- 10 oz brown sugar
- 6 oz raisins, left whole or chopped
- 1 tsp ground ginger (I love ginger so would at least doable that!)
- 1 oz mustard seeds, tied in a muslin
- 2 tsp salt (or less)
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- put everything in a pan
- cook gently until the sugar has dissolved
- bring to the boil and boil gently for 45 mins
- cool slightly, remove muslin bag of mustard, and pot chutney
- The idea of ginger with gooseberries sounds so good I might add chopped crystallised ginger!
Lois Elsden 