Branston Pickle
Branston pickle is a popular sweet and tangy British condiment commonly used as a sandwich spread. It features a nice balance of sweet, savory and tangy with deep umami notes. While some refer to it as a relish, it’s really more of a chutney because of its thick texture and its sweet and complex flavor profile consisting of vegetables, fruits and a variety of spices. Branston is the brand name of the original creation, made in the town of Branston in Staffordshire in 1922 by the manufacturer Crosse & Blackwell. It is often referred to as ploughman’s pickle because it is typically served with a ploughman’s lunch, a traditional rustic meal of bread, cheese and ham with classic accompaniments of English pickled onions, butter and Branston pickle.
Servings: 64
Ingredients
- 1½ cups finely diced swede/rutabaga
- 1½ cups finely diced carrots
- 1 cup finely diced cauliflower (use as much of the stems as you can, reserving leftover florets for another purpose)
- 1 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 1 Granny Smith or other tart apple peeled and cored
- 3 ounces pitted Medjool dates
- 1 cup dark brown sugar not packed
- 1 cup malt vinegar
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup spirit vinegar or Essig Essenz (see blog post "Ingredients" for explanation)
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (vegans/vegetarians: substitute soy sauce)
- 2 tsp concentrated tomato paste
- 1 tsp black treacle or molasses
- 1½ tsp kosher or sea salt
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp ground mustard
- ¼ tsp ground coriander
- ⅛ tsp ground allspice
- ⅛ tsp ground ginger
- 1/16 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tsp Ball Realfruit Classic Pectin or cornstarch
Instructions
- Chop the swede/rutabaga, carrots, cauliflower and onions to your desired size (Branston’s “original” has larger chunks, around 1/8-1/4 inch, versus their “small chunk” version which is finely diced) and place them in medium-sized pot.
- Place the apple, dates and lemon juice in a blender and puree until smooth.
- Add the apple/date puree to the pot along with the brown sugar, malt vinegar, spirit vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, treacle/molasses, and the spices.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 1½ to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, or until the mixture is reduced in volume, thick and darker (but the vegetables still retain their shape without becoming mush). How long this takes will depend on the size and type of your pot, your cooktop, and the temperature. Stir frequently towards the end to prevent the mixture from scorching.
- Taste and add more salt, vinegar and/or sugar as needed.
- If it’s thick enough to your liking you can leave it as it is. (Note that the pickle will thicken up a little when it cools.) If you prefer it thicker and you’ve let it simmer for as long as you can without the vegetables disintegrating, you can either add some cornstarch dissolved in a little water (2 teaspoons dissolved in a tablespoon of water, or more cornstarch if needed) or add some pectin (like Ball Classic RealFruit powdered pectin). In both cases return the pickle to a boil for 2-3 minutes.
- Spoon the Branston pickle into clean jars and seal them. Allow them to fully cool and then store the jars in the fridge where the pickle will keep for about a month. For the best flavor, allow it to sit for a few days before using to give the flavors time to develop.
- This makes roughly 1 quart of pickle. You can store it in a large quart jar or separate it into smaller jars.
