A condiment for every occasion

Selection of Tracklements condiments in jars and bottles | H is for Home

Some time ago, we were sent a luxury Christmas hamper to review. We remembered that one of the highlights was the jar Tracklements condiment that was contained within. So we were very happy indeed to be sent a wonderful (and much larger) selection of Tracklements products to try out.

The Wiltshire-based company have such a fabulous array of small-batch, hand-made items on their website – mustards, relishes, jellies, fruit cheeses, sauces and the like. They have an ever-expanding range – currently over 60 products.

Bottles of Tracklements brown sauce, tomato ketchup and barbecue sauce | H is for Home

It was difficult to choose. However, we did manage to make our selections… eventually!

We love our food here at H is for Home headquarters and cooking and baking most days. Justin eats meat and Adelle is veggie. Some meals we share, on other occasions we go our separate ways. The Tracklements condiment range suits us both – in fact, they’re suitable for all kinds of dietary preferences and tastes.

Some of their flavours are punchy & robust, others are subtle & delicate. There are lots of different colours, consistencies and textures to experience… and experiment with! They match perfectly with a huge array of dishes, be it vegetables, meat or fish.

As you might expect, they’re particularly suited to serve on the side of cheeses, hot & cold meat selections, burgers, kebabs, sausages, tempura and the like. However, they can also be incorporated into the dishes themselves. There are endless possibilities.

Pork pie with Tracklements aromatic medlar jelly condiment | H is for Home

Justin couldn’t resist getting stuck in after receiving the delivery, pairing his lunchtime pork pie with the aromatic medlar jelly. The box had been unpacked less than 20 minutes earlier!  And, a bonus factor for this item, their medlar jelly is made using fruit donated by the local community. For every jar they sell, they donate 50p towards buying bee-friendly medlar trees via their Plant a Tree, Save a Bee project.

We then spent the following week dipping into our Tracklements condiment ‘hoard’ whenever the opportunity arose.

Fat chips with Tracklements proper tomato ketchup | H is for Home

Sometimes we kept things very simple – crispy, salty home-cooked chips dipped into a pot of their proper tomato ketchup, for example – what a treat! It’s made with juicy Italian tomatoes and a subtle blend of spices. It’s intensely flavoured, yet so well rounded and smooth – non of that acidic sharpness of some other ketchups. Sometimes, the simple things are hard to beat!

Plate of sausages with Tracklements quintessential brown sauce | H is for Home

At the weekend, Justin combined his Sunday morning Porcus sausages with the quintessential brown sauce. He doesn’t throw just any old sauce over his lovingly cooked sausages, however, this rich and tangy concoction made with herbs, soy sauce, tamarind and dates was very worthy of its place on the plate! He’s a complete convert to this one as well.

Cheese board with Tracklements sticky fig relish | H is for Home

Then there was a classic cheeseboard. This was a good opportunity to test the sticky fig relish and quince fruit cheese. Notes on the jars said that the relish was good with all manner of soft cheese and that the fruit cheese worked well with Manchego. Fortunately, we had both – and the folks at Tracklements weren’t wrong – it was absolutely delicious!

Tracklements sticky fig relish | H is for Home Tracklements quince fruit cheese | H is for Home

On other occasions, we added products during the cooking process. A generous dollop of the piquant Original Wiltshire mustard (the UK’s first wholegrain mustard) worked so well in our devilled mushroom sauce.

Devilled mushrooms with Tracklements Wiltshire mustard | H is for Home

…and a spoonful of the Thai spice jelly in Justin’s chicken & pak choi noodles was the perfect too – the chillies, ginger, garlic and lemongrass flavours adding real zing.

Noodle stir fry with Tracklements Thai spice jelly | H is for Home

If you fancy the sound of of their condiments but aren’t sure what to do with them, Tracklements have a dedicated web page with a range of recipes and serving suggestions.

Tracklements mustardy mayonnaise | H is for Home Tracklements aromatic medlar jelly | H is for Home

In addition to the amazing flavours, we love the packaging too. There are various sizes and shapes of container… with very cute, quirky graphics on the labels. Who wouldn’t want these lovely bottles and jars in their kitchen or larder? Clear some space in the cupboard for these “proud pioneers of the pantry”.

What are your ‘go to’ condiments to have alongside your favourite foods?

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Haw ketchup

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bottle of home-made haw ketchup with pair of small cacti in food tins

The hawthorn, or Crataegus Monogyna, is one of the latest fruiting shrubs of the year. They’re an important source of food for winter visiting birds such as redwings, fieldfares and waxwings.

aluminium colander containing haw berries

I’m sure they didn’t mind sharing just a few with us, so we could make a couple of bottles of haw ketchup!

bottle of home-made haw ketchup with pair of small cacti in food tins

Some people are a bit wary of picking wild, red berries; they’re worried about whether they could be poisonous. I took a photo of the shrub to help with identification!

hawthorn bush

If you’re still unsure, here’s a close up of the berries and their leaves. The haw ketchup recipe we used is from Pam Corbin, aka ‘Pam the Jam’. She’s patron of The Guild of Jam and Preserve Makers, but she’s probably best known as a regular on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s TV programmes and penning the books on preserves and cakes from his River Cottage Handbook series.

bottle of home-made haw ketchup with pair of small cacti in food tins

Haw ketchup

Course Condiment
Cuisine British

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g/18oz haw berries
  • 300 ml/10½ floz cider vinegar
  • 300 ml/10½ fl oz water
  • 170 g/6oz granulated sugar
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Wash a bottle with a vinegar-proof screw-top or stopper before putting them into an oven at 130°C/275°F/Gas mark 1. Alternatively, put both the bottle & screw-top/stopper in a large saucepan and fill with enough water to cover the bottle completely. Bring to a boil and simmer for at least 15 minutes
  • Rinse the berries in a large sieve or colander and remove any stalks and leaves
  • Put them in a saucepan with the vinegar and water
  • Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, by which time the berries will have turned a dull brown and their skins will have split to reveal their yellow flesh
  • Tip into a sieve over a clean pan and rub the fruit through with a spoon, leaving the skins and pips behind
  • Add the sugar to the purée in the pan and heat gently, stirring until it dissolves
  • Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often to ensure it doesn't catch
  • Funnel the hot sauce into the hot, clean bottle and seal straight away
This sauce improves with age, so you can leave it for a few weeks before opening. Use within a year and refrigerate once open
Keyword forage, haw, haws, ketchup

Spiced apple chutney

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home-made spiced apple chutney | H is for Home

There were still LOADS of apples left over after making an apple & blackberry pie a few weeks ago. I hate wasting food so had to do something with them. “I’ll make apple chutney!”, I thought.

vintage red wire bucket of apples

My Cordon Bleu Preserving book contains recipes for 4 different versions of apple chutney however it was the spiced one that took my fancy (for this read, “It was the one where I already had all the ingredients in the house.”) This recipe makes a humongous amount of chutney, but it’s easily adapted if you don’t have that much fruit to preserve. It’s a steeper, the flavours mellow if the chutney is left a week or so before consuming. So far, we’ve discovered that it makes a delicious accompaniment to a cheeseboard. It really suits a creamy brie and sharp cheddar – not so much blue cheese. I’m vegetarian, but I’ve had it on good advice that it’s also very good with pork pie (Justin) and sausage rolls (Duncan). What do you recommend?

vintage plate with a slice of pork pie, pea shoots and dollop of home made spiced apple chutney

Spiced apple chutney

Ingredients
  

  • 36 large apples - peeled cored & sliced
  • lbs/680g sultanas
  • 3 lbs/1.4kg demerara sugar
  • 4 oz/115g mustard seeds
  • 2 fresh chillies sliced into rings
  • 2 rounded tsps ground turmeric
  • 2 oz/60g ground ginger
  • lbs/680g onions halved & thinly sliced
  • 6 cloves garlic peeled & crushed with salt
  • 2 pts/1L vinegar I used distilled white vinegar, but you can use ordinary malt vinegar

Instructions
 

  • Put all the ingredients into a large pan (a jam pan is ideal) and simmer for 1½-2 hours until very soft and pulpy
  • Turn into sterilised jars and cover
A few tips for making successful chutneys, relishes & ketchups:
-1- Once opened a jar must be refrigerated and consumed within a week.
-2- Don't allow the vinegar to come into contact with with metal whilst in store.
-3- When preserving with vinegar, don't use copper or brass preserving pans. Use aluminium or stainless steel and only use enamelled iron pans if there are no chips to the enamel.
-4- It's important to cook chutneys and sauces thoroughly otherwise they will not keep.