Tuesday, March 15, 2011

A Few Of My Favourite Things...

I'd like to think I'm not alone but sometimes I get so fixated on something that it becomes a freakish obsession. There is no rhyme or reason. It might be a particular dish, like spaghetti with olive oil, garlic and parmesean which I ate three times a week for a month straight. Other times it's a spice, like the time when I put Montreal Steak Seasoning on anything I roasted. It doesn't have to be healthy- for example, I HAD to have a salami sandwich and one Twix finger everyday at lunch (and only at lunch) for the first six weeks after I had my son; it can even be a restaurant. My long running stalker like obsession with Royal China dim sum hasn't ceased after ten years.

Which brings me to my current tasty delight and an introduction to a new feature on this blog. On the right hand side of the screen you will be able to check back and see what I currently cannot get enough of. There'll be a link to this posting where I'll keep track of all my fave flavours.

So what am I all over as I type you ask? Rosebud Preserves Piccalilli. L-O-V-E IT!

I was never a huge fan of piccalilli. For someone who has half a fridge of condiments (along with ones I hide in the cupboard from The Boy), that's saying a lot. For anyone not familiar with it, it's a pickle made up of various vegetables chunks in a tangy mustard and tumeric sauce.

Perhaps not so bizarrely, when I was pregnant, one of my few cravings was for a toasted, always toasted, ham and cheese sandwich with extra piccalilli from Fernandez and Wells in Soho.

Not so much as a second thought had been given to piccalilli in months. Not until last week when I went to Mortimer and Bennett to have a browse. Mortimer and Bennett's is a great little shop if you're ever in Chiswick. At the back of the tiny store, an array of jarred delights. Jams, chutneys, pickles- it's like a condiment circus back there. Yum I thought, I do fancy me some condiments on a sandwich. So I paid my £3.50 for my picalilli and made myself a ham and cheese sandwich for old times sake.

Five days later the jar was empty. I am now on my second jar.

It's not English mustard spicy like the other versions I've had. It's much more a sweet and sour style of relish with good chunks of veg for a slight crunch. There's a sharp vinegar tang which is what I think I love the most. I've put it in sandwiches, on top of cheese and crackers, and licked the odd spoon clean. Surely there must be other things I can spoon it over...

4 comments:

Clare said...

You've become a Brit through and through Xoch!

Sammie said...

I have never ever tried this or heard of it for that reason but it sounds really good! I have the same addiction to a certain brand of poppyseed dressing... it's so bad I lick the bowl after my salad.

Xochitl said...

Oh Clare sometimes the British side takes over from the Mexican-American side!

Sammie- wherever you are try to get your hands on some. Or you can make it yourself. I've not managed to yet but all the recipes I've seen for piccalilli seem pretty straightforward.

Virginia Osborne said...

Considering I haven't met a vinegar based condiment or pickled vegetable I didn't like, I know this is something that will find a favorable spot in my cupboard.