When it comes to last-minute entertaining, a lovingly made preserve, served as an antipasto, condiment or sauce, will get you out of a jam. Capture sunshine in a bottle with these preserves of the season’s best produce.
Apricots in vanilla-brandy syrup
Apricots in vanilla-brandy syrup
Apricots in vanilla-brandy syrup
Simply serve the apricots with vanilla ice-cream or double cream. You can use the leftover syrup in cocktails or drizzle it over fresh fruit salads.
PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS CHEN
Spiced mango chutney and Goan eggplant pickle
Spiced mango chutney and Goan eggplant pickle
Making chutney is a fabulous way of capturing the flavour of seasonal fruits such as mango. This one’s a great accompaniment to Indian food.
Eggplant pickle can be stuffed into rolls with leftover roast lamb and aïoli, served as a condiment with flatbread and some cucumber and yoghurt, or scattered over a salad of chickpeas, lentils and coriander.
PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS CHEN
Tomatoes in oil and peperoni
Tomatoes in oil and peperoni
These little beauties capture the taste of summer in one bite. They’re great tossed through pasta or warmed (add a splash of red wine vinegar) and spooned over seared fish.
Peperoni, not to be confused with pepperoni, is the Italian word for capsicums. Stored in jars for last-minute entertaining, they’re wonderfully versatile.
PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS CHEN
Cherry-vanilla jam
Cherry-vanilla jam
The addition of high-pectin raspberries helps this jam to set quickly without losing the fresh flavour of the cherries through lengthy cooking. It’s particularly good on toast with fresh ricotta, or simply add a dollop to natural yoghurt. You can make this jam in larger batches, but it’s a good idea not to do more than double the quantities, given the quantity of cherries that need to be pitted.
PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS CHEN
Peach pickle
Peach pickle
Try this pickle alongside roast pork, duck or goose and you won’t be sorry. It would also go perfectly with a salad of grilled quail, extra-virgin olive oil-dressed rocket leaves and a good scattering of pecorino or crumble of feta.
PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS CHEN
Summer corn relish
Summer corn relish
This relish is great on a sandwich with sliced ham and cheddar, or rolled up in a soft taco with grilled spice-rubbed chicken, oxheart tomato and coriander leaves. It’s also fantastic drizzled with fresh lime juice in a salad of black beans, avocado and yellow grape tomatoes and served with grilled prawns.
PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS CHEN
Summer preserves
Summer preserves
When it comes to last-minute entertaining, a lovingly made preserve, served as an antipasto, condiment or sauce, will get you out of a jam. Capture sunshine in a bottle with these preserves of the season’s best produce.
PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS CHEN
