This is the first relish I ever made and I still make it commercially almost each week. It is fun to look back and trace the history of a recipe, its source of inspiration and how it becomes adapted by different people as it progresses through life and is passed on.

Regarding the sharing of recipes, Anders Ousback, a great friend who always had wise words once said to me,  ‘if you cannot give, you can not receive’.  I love this Red Pepper Relish and so I pass it on.

As it happens, Anders also once wrote a story about this recipe. He mentions in his article that ‘it is a delicious relish — lovely with cold meats, grilled chops or with hard boiled eggs and a green salad for lunch.’ He continues, ‘I can also vouch for it on toast for breakfast, and topped with an anchovy fillet on fried bread with drinks (in the evening!).’ So you can see how versatile it can be.

Another source of inspiration is Elizabeth David, (which is really another whole story) but the idea for this relish comes from her Book of Mediterranean Food. She in turn credits Escoffier, and here is her recipe below.

Pimentos to serve with cold meat (Escoffier’s recipe)

Warm half a wine glass of olive oil in a thick pan. Put in 1 lb of finely chopped white onions and 2-¼ lb of pimentos, from which you have removed the core and seeds; cut into rounds. Cover the pan and let them simmer 15 minutes, when you add 2 lb of very ripe tomatoes, a clove of garlic, a teaspoon of powdered ginger, 1lb of sugar, ½ lb of sultanas and a teaspoon of mixed spice. Pour over a pint of good vinegar and continue cooking very slowly for three hours.

I have not changed the recipe too much and trust I haven’t disregarded her rules in adapting to my version. All you can do is recognise a good recipe and as good ones go, they just go on and on with all their various adaptations and endless permutations.

Elizabeth David uses the word pimiento in her recipe above, but I think the term has been superseded by what we know in Australia as red peppers or red capsicums.

I use fresh ginger instead of ground ginger, adding chilli, and currants instead of sultanas, as I love the black dots in amongst the red pepper relish. I also use ground pimento, which is also known as Jamaica pepper or all spice, instead of her use of mixed spice.

Red Pepper Relish

100 ml olive oil

600 g white onions

2 kg red peppers

1 kg tomatoes

2 clove garlic

50 g fresh ginger

200 g currants

2 teaspoons (7g) ground pimento (allspice)

500 ml white wine vinegar

400 g caster sugar

2 birds-eye chillies

Heat the oil in a large pan. Cut the peppers in half, take out the seeds, cut in quarters and then eights, and then slice across the pepper. 

Add the finely sliced onions and sliced peppers and simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes.

Then add the tomatoes, (which have been peeled, deseeded, and diced), garlic (sliced), chilli (seeded and sliced), ground pimento, grated ginger and currants.

When hot, add the sugar and vinegar. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently and reduce for approximately 1 ¼ hours, or until the desired consistency. Check seasoning, and then bottle while hot in clean jars.

This recipe makes approximately six 300 ml. jars.