Hawkshead Relish Mango Chutney

200 gram jar - Lake District, UK

Chutney ...

a relish that you can feel good about!

Chutney is a much-loved condiment and is relished in England and everywhere, except here. I have been trying to go back in my mind as to why we have such an aversion to chutneys here. I can’t find anything (a blank mind is a terrible thing to waste).

Overall, this is a winner; it is friendly, it is a condiment that can be put on a sandwich, or combined into recipes for an acceleration of goodness.

To the nose, there is an aggressive jump up into your nostrils as you smell cardamom, turmeric and hot peppers. This is followed by a feel of citrus that turns into acid.

Leave the cover off and the acidic volatiles evaporate and what remains is the cardamom, turmeric and the hint of pepper. There is also a nose of pickling.

There is a tinge of excitement for the mouth, not knowing what is going to happen! There are three main groups here. The initial whole mouth texture is the mango, which is the underlying taste, though you would be hard-pressed to exclaim: I taste mango!

Then there is the “sauce” which is smooth like a nice thick syrup, and it contains all the flavors.

There is the sweetness of the mango and sugar, and there is the sour sweet of the lemon and lime, and there is the melding of all the spices. It’s pretty tasty!

With a mouthful, it is a lot to take in. There is a sour element that can make your eyes close, but only for a brief moment. The mango is in little pieces that are soft and that disappear quickly. The little pieces of red pepper are (not hot) interlopers of chewy bits, perhaps the only thing that doesn’t feel like it dissolves on its own.

Overall though it is a combination of everything into one. In use you would never view it as separate elements, only as one glorious flavor.

It’s the complexity of all the flavors that makes it tongue smacking good!

In this weird world, food combination rules are out the window. I had chicken I was dicing up for my cat, and decided to slice myself some pieces. I had a hot dog bun (not a good one) that was going to go stale, so I toasted it, put mayo on it, then the dry chicken and topped it with mango chutney.

Under normal circumstances it would have been bearable, but not worth eating. Instead the mango chutney brought some life into an otherwise bad sandwich. It was a good test.

Just imagine what it would be like with Kerelan Mango Chicken!

ingredients: Mangoes (51%), acetic acid, sugar, lemons, limes, red chilli peppers, salt, gelling agent - pectin, cardomom, cayenne pepper, turmeric, nigella, cumin seeds