This little adventure started when Dan’s cousin Maura and her lovely (and now sadly missed) Mum, Auntie Sheila, gave us a large and fully ripened marrow (Cucurbita pepo) when we visited at Christmas 2009. Most marrows seen on sale in the UK are bright green and look like supersized courgettes, but if you let the marrow reach a good size on the vine and then keep it somewhere cool and out of direct sunlight after picking, it will continue to ripen and turn a handsome orange colour.
I should also say that this recipe is probably one for the ‘home made chutney’ enthusiast. I love the taste and aroma of what it makes; but there’s a lot of work, and a lot of ingredients, for a limited number of jars.
David’s Marrow & Ginger Chutney
6 dessert apples, 900g unprepped weight
2 medium sized cooking apples, 450g unprepped weight
4 lemons
1.7kg of ripe marrow, unprepped weight
500ml white vinegar or white wine vinegar
400g diced onion
4x 5ml measuring spoons ground ginger
2x 5ml measuring spoons ground white pepper
1x 5ml measuring spoon cayenne pepper
2x 5ml measuring spoons ground mace
1x 5ml measuring spoon ground cinnamon
2x 5ml measuring spoons finely ground salt
6 pieces of stem ginger, drained of syrup and finely chopped
900g granulated white sugar
Roughly chop the apples and lemons, without peeling, but remove any bruised or damaged bits. Place in a heavy pan with 2 litres of water, and bring to the boil; cook for 90-120 minutes. This is to produce a pectin-rich stock for the chutney (the lemons help to release the pectin contained in the apples). Drain, reserving the 1.15 litres or so of liquid, but discarding the pulp.
Peel and de-seed the marrow, and place in your pan with the white vinegar and diced onion, and the spices and seasonings (but not the stem ginger or sugar). If your pan has measurements marked up the inside, it should read about 3.4 litres. Bring to the boil, and reduce by one-third. Then add the stem ginger and sugar and reduce again, to approximately 2-2.25 litres, taking the temperature as close as you can to 103-104C.
Meanwhile, make sure your jam jars are washed and clean, and sterilise them by putting them in an oven at 140C for at least 10 minutes. Then fill your jars with the hot chutney (should make four 450g jars or 5 400g jars) and cover immediately.
If you use acid- and vinegar-proof screw-top metal lids, the chutney will retain its moisture content and remain quite soft, but if you use cellophane covers held in place with elastic bands, some of the moisture will gradually evaporate, giving you a denser chutney.
