“I had some very senior, but sound Cretan Graviera in the fridge and enjoyed some of it at lunch today with your lovely peach chutney on some fresh Syros bread! Superb!”.
I think the quote above, which comes from a thank you email from a Greek friend, says it all really – this chutney goes wonderfully with all kinds of cheeses, and some top quality wafer thin ham – San Daniele, or Jamón Ibérico de bellota.
Don’t think of making this with ordinary peaches – it doesn’t work nearly as well, white peaches are sweeter than the normal kind. The white peach tree in our protected walled garden supplies us with sublime fruit for this.
Sometimes the simple things in life are best.
Recipe for White Peach Chutney
- 80 ml/⅓ cup white balsamic condiment
- 100g/½ cup soft brown sugar
- 115g/ ½ cup golden caster sugar
- 1 red pepper, cored, deseeded and chopped – this is optional
- 1 small jalapeño pepper, cored, deseeded and chopped – NB – this optional, personally I just add some Urfa pepper flakes
- 1 banana shallot, peeled and chopped
- 50g/⅓ cup raisins
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with ½ tsp salt
- 1”/2 cm of ginger, grated
- 680g/1 lb 8 oz white peaches
- Blanch the peaches, lift off the skin (go here for more information on how to do this), take out the stone, and slice.
- Put the vinegar and sugars into a saucepan with a ceramic (eg a Dutch oven, Le Creusset type) casserole or a saucepan with a non-stick surface.
- Bring to the boil and add everything else except for the peaches. Simmer for ten minutes.
- Add the peaches and simmer for another ten minutes until they are just becoming soft.
- Cook for another couple of minutes (or it may take a little longer) to thicken up.
- Allow to cool, and then pour into sterilised jars (go here to see how to sterilise jars).
