Gluts and glory
Borough traders share their tips for preserving the Market’s glorious abundance of summer produce
“BOROUGH MARKET OFFERS UP ENDLESS INSPIRATION FOR CREATIVE WAYS TO PRESERVE A SEASONAL GLUT”
Words: Gurdeep Loyal / Images: Dan Hull, Sophia Spring, Tom Bradley
There’s a joke that does the rounds every year at about this time, warning suburban dwellers to ensure all doors are kept firmly locked for the coming weeks. Not for fear of intruders but because peak courgette season has arrived – and desperate neighbours in possession of a glut will be posting them through all available letterboxes and car windows in a bid to use them up!
It’s not only summer squashes that multiply exponentially at this time of year. After months of toil, keen gardeners find themselves with a sudden monsoon of tomatoes, cucumbers, runner beans, strawberries, blackcurrants, plums, onions, chard, turnips and lettuces – a colourful tsunami that never seems to stop.
I remember fondly my childhood summers in Leicester at this time of year – the slumbering serenity of the school holidays routinely interrupted as my mum would task us with frantically filling up stacks of wooden crates with apples, greengages and seasonal marrows the size of our heads from our fruit-filled garden. These would be liberally handed out to everyone – from teachers and milkmen to bewildered strangers in the street. In return, raffia sacks of crab apples, damsons and endless wonky courgettes would appear on our doorstep daily, as if by magic, alongside gingham-wrapped jars of jams and jellies, chutneys and fruit pickles, sauerkrauts and briny vegetable ferments. Every effort imaginable was made to preserve nature’s offerings, with no lidded vessel left unfilled to capture the fleeting abundance of summerly plenty.
Borough Market offers up endless inspiration for creative ways to preserve a seasonal garden glut of your own, with artisan stallholders who are true experts at preserving the flavours of sunshine for enjoyment all year round. Doreen Gittens of De La Grenade specialises in delectable Caribbean condiments, pickles and preserves imported from a family estate on the Caribbean island of Grenada. She suggests trying something like a kuchela pickle to get your culinary imagination going. “Ours is made with green mango,” she explains, “with hot pepper, mustard oil and amchur masala. It’s delicious with picnic foods or even with earthy dishes like a mushroom stroganoff.”
Other tangy pickles Doreen offers up include a Grenadian chow chow – a relish that includes shredded cauliflower, carrot, chocho, peppers, spring onion, coriander and the earthy Caribbean herb shado beni. “Chow chow is a wonderful flavour enhancer,” she tells me, “and also makes a perfect dip for summer fish, crab or prawn cakes.” Given the variety of abundant vegetables it includes, a chow chow is a wonderful thing to try to make for yourself, using up whatever vegetables you find yourself with excesses of. My recipe for courgette chow chow relish is delicious with any combination of summer squashes and seasonal alliums you happen to have to hand.
Dawn Smith of Pimento Hill also brings to life the spirit of Caribbean cooking through her own flavour-packed jams, sauces and chutneys, all handmade in small batches using selected spices sourced directly from the Caribbean. Her sweet confections include a lemon & lime marmalade, a rhubarb & ginger preserve and a strawberry preserve with champagne, all offering wonderful inspiration for how to use up an abundance of strawberries and summer citrus fruits. Doreen at De La Grenade also offer a grapefruit marmalade and a unique Grenadian nutmeg jam, made with the outer fruit of the nutmeg. “The nutmeg jam is wonderful for making French toast with,” Doreen suggests, “and it’s also delicious with a bold cheese or to accompany cold cuts.”
My recipe for strawberry, peach & nutmeg jam takes inspiration from both Doreen and Dawn’s delicious Caribbean jams, combining sweet strawberries with ripe stone fruit and a hint of nutmeg to amplify the flavours. It can add a fragrant twist to a summer trifle or enliven classic retro jam tarts for a park picnic.
Dawn is also known for her jellies, including a rosemary jelly she suggests is “delicious for glazing lamb, vegetables or adding to a charcuterie board” and garlic jelly “that is a favourite with cheese, can be mixed into pasta dishes or smeared on pizza!” It’s her scotch bonnet jam – rich in chillies, ginger and allspice – that is one of the most talked about, thanks to the unexpected ways it can be used. “It’s often used in egg dishes,” Dawn tells me, “or it can be enjoyed with cheese or even peanut butter. It also makes an amazing addition to cocktails.” Taking Dawn’s advice, I added a teaspoon to a cocktail shaker while making an iced paloma – and the mix of smoky mescal, tangy grapefruit and hot-sweet chilli jam was truly sublime!
Making your own Jamaican-inspired chilli jam is a great way to use up a glut of summer peppers, or you could equally turn to the flavours of India for inspiration. The Punjabi-inspired chutneys handmade by Mrs Sandhu of Temptings are based on original family recipes. There are fruit chutneys such as apple & mango, hot pomegranate and orange & ginger, and highly creative fruit-nut chutneys, including grape & pistachio and cashew & blueberry. Just as inspiring are Mrs Sandhu’s savoury chutneys, each one rich in spices like mustards seeds.
De La Grenade’s tropical chutneys are perfect for using up an abundance of summer fruits. Doreen’s pineapple chutney combines pineapple with onions, garlic, scotch bonnet peppers, vinegar and pimento, while at Bath Soft Cheese Co the delicious cheeseboard accompaniments include spiced plum and tomato-tamarind chutneys which could be recreated at home as well.
Dawn at Pimento Hill is something of an expert at pickle and chutney making, offering up a fig and date chutney, an aubergine pickle and an iconic bright yellow hot banana chutney, wonderful as a dip for summer picnic snacks. Her advice to any home cook making their own summer glut pickles and chutneys is to be inventive. “Experiment with the best vegetables of the season – and mix up those flavours,” she tells me, but always “add chillies with caution!” My recipe for tomato, chilli & tamarind chutney takes inspiration from all these Borough Market traders – infusing an excess of summer tomatoes with Indian spices and the tangy sourness of tamarind to preserve them for months to come.
Another Borough Market trader that offers up seasonal inspiration is Fitz Fine Foods, which specialises in foraged fare from Kent, transformed into condiments like fruit-infused vinegars, mustards and syrups. Their sweet raspberry vinegar is a bestseller which they suggest trying on fresh fruits, with Yorkshire pudding or even with ice cream. Making your own summer berry vinegars is a fun thing to do, or you could take inspiration from their gooseberry & mint mustard, which combines the fruits of the Kent garden into a piquant mustardy condiment.
Fitz’s fruity syrups are equally inspirational – a colourful lineup of bottles which include wild strawberry, elderflower and raspberry varieties – particularly delicious drizzled over waffles and pancakes. They are equally inventive with blackcurrants, which also come into abundance over the later summer months. Their cassis syrup is the inspiration behind my recipe for blackcurrant, cardamon & lemon gin. This puckeringly tart and fragrant tipple is perfect for mixing with cold fizz – and is sure to keep the sparkling sunshine of summer alive all the way to through to autumn.