Pickle, Chutney, Relish ...

[ChrisGreaves]

Without rushing off to the internet (I Know, I know: you are already ON the internet), and without providing any links to the internet, just from your head, right now, what, if anything, is the difference between these three terms: Pickle, Relish, Chutney?

I confess to having a courageous foolhardy bent: If I adjust a relish recipe so it seems to be a chutney, then I call it a chutney.
I don't care that much as long as (a) it uses lots of zucchini flesh and (b) it tastes good on grilled pork steaks,

Cheers
Chris
P.S. Only a pedantic nerd would check all six boxes.
C

[HansV]

I did look it up on the interwebs, and it appears that pickle (in the British sense of the word) is a (kind of) chutney, chutney is (a kind of) relish, and relish is "a cooked and pickled product".

[Maryrichman]

As the nights get colder and I find myself to have lots of still green tomatoes in my garden, I made green tomato chutney (or relish?) this week. It’s well delicious and my friend says it tastes like bacon. must be the added dried wild mushroom dust.

[StuartR]

I love eating pickled onions and pickled cucumbers, but I would never call either of these chutney, or relish

[jstevens]

I love eating pickled onions and pickled cucumbers, but I would never call either of these chutney, or relish

Stuart would you say you relish the thought?

[StuartR]

Stuart would you say you relish the thought?

I missed a few posts, and now I have to ketch-up with the context

[DaveA]

I have thought that pickled would be whole or large slices as relish would be small bits and mixture of the food item(s).

But, then I am on the US side the the big puddles of water.

[BobH]

In my younger years I was sometimes found pickled. Scotch whisky was the cause.

[ChrisGreaves]

As the nights get colder and I find myself to have lots of still green tomatoes in my garden, I made green tomato chutney (or relish?) this week. It’s well delicious and my friend says it tastes like bacon. must be the added dried wild mushroom dust.

@Maryrichman Thanks Mary. As soon as I saw this I rushed outside and harvested my dwarf tomatoes, They sit now in a plastic tray waiting to be rinsed and chutneyised, as soon as I have finished hanging my four "new" doors.

@Stuart "I love eating pickled onions and pickled cucumbers, but I would never call either of these chutney, or relish" So Stuart, to you it seems that "Pickle" implies "mouth-sized chunks of vegetable in a matrix", whereas "relish" and "chutney" are more of a spreadable fluid?

@John "Stuart would you say you relish the thought?" John, we don't store relish, chutney, OR pickles in punnets.

@DaveA " have thought that pickled would be whole or large slices as relish would be small bits and mixture of the food item(s)." Dave, this is along my line of thinking, too, that pickles are mouth-sized chunks, usually held in a clear-liquid solution. For example Pickled beets - which i preserve in a very light vinegar and water solution.

@BobH "In my younger years I was sometimes found pickled. Scotch whisky was the cause." And in your older years ...?

More Thoughts: Most chutney recipes seem to insist on raisins/sultanas in the mix, and oriental spices (of a hot-and-spicy nature) whereas relish recipes seem to be more of a sweet-and-sour (as in "vinegar" and "sugar")

Cheers
Chris

[Maryrichman]

As the nights get colder and I find myself to have lots of still green tomatoes in my garden, I made green tomato chutney (or relish?) this week. It’s well delicious and my friend says it tastes like bacon. must be the added dried wild mushroom dust.

@Maryrichman Thanks Mary. As soon as I saw this I rushed outside and harvested my dwarf tomatoes, They sit now in a plastic tray waiting to be rinsed and chutneyised, as soon as I have finished hanging my four "new" doors.

@Stuart "I love eating pickled onions and pickled cucumbers, but I would never call either of these chutney, or relish" So Stuart, to you it seems that "Pickle" implies "mouth-sized chunks of vegetable in a matrix", whereas "relish" and "chutney" are more of a spreadable fluid?

@John "Stuart would you say you relish the thought?" John, we don't store relish, chutney, OR pickles in punnets.

@DaveA " have thought that pickled would be whole or large slices as relish would be small bits and mixture of the food item(s)." Dave, this is along my line of thinking, too, that pickles are mouth-sized chunks, usually held in a clear-liquid solution. For example Pickled beets - which i preserve in a very light vinegar and water solution.

@BobH "In my younger years I was sometimes found pickled. Scotch whisky was the cause." And in your older years ...?

More Thoughts: Most chutney recipes seem to insist on raisins/sultanas in the mix, and oriental spices (of a hot-and-spicy nature) whereas relish recipes seem to be more of a sweet-and-sour (as in "vinegar" and "sugar")

Cheers
Chris

Hello Chris,
The above clear liquid theory sounds ace, but I am thinking Branston pickle . Thoughts?
M

[StuartR]

The above clear liquid theory sounds ace, but I am thinking Branston pickle . Thoughts?

Branston pickle is clearly a chutney, or possibly a relish, but it isn't a pickle

[GeoffW]

Branston pickles come in very small jars, due to the Branston Hicks contractions.

[ChrisGreaves]

Branston pickles come in very small jars, due to the Branston Hicks contractions.

Ever mindful of when something that requires a sarcastic response happens, but no one quite knows what to day or do, I shall leap, to coin a phrase, into the breech.
Cheers
Chris
P.S. Arrived at my first batch of green-tomato chutney, or more correctly "Green tomato brown chutney" this morning. Ventusky says no rain, mild temperature, and winds of only 20 knots by 4pm, so I shall have yet-another-barbecue campfire tonight with pork steak and chutney.
Cheers
Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

Branston pickles come in very small jars, due to the Branston Hicks contractions.

Ever mindful of when something that requires a sarcastic response happens, but no one quite knows what to day or do, I shall leap, to coin a phrase, into the breech.
Cheers
Chris
P.S. Arrived at my first batch of green-tomato chutney, or more correctly "Green tomato brown chutney" this morning. Ventusky says no rain, mild temperature, and winds of only 20 knots by 4pm, so I shall have yet-another-barbecue campfire tonight with pork steak and chutney.

(next day) The original recipe was for "2.5Kg of Green Tomatoes", and I had almost eight pounds, so I made a trial batch with 500g tomatoes, and 1/5 of everything else. I rendered it down to a very sluggish fluid.
Then I started a second batch with 1000g (a 2-litre ice-cream tub) and that has turned out better in that I have better time-control over the rendering-down process.
Today (day three) I shall repeat yesterday's exercise with the remaining 1000g and then mix and bottle the lot.

FWIW at 3a.m. I was awake for my early-morning snack of toast, and used my chutney instead of marmalade on one of the slices. Very Good!
So right now I feel that
(a) a chutney is a vegetable-laden jam and
(b) pickles are vegetables preserved in a clear acidic solution.

Cheers
Chris
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