Contributed by Martin Dorey
Man jam isn’t what you think it is. It is a cunning way to get your menfolk to begin the long journey towards the art of making jams and marmalades. It sounds butch and it is. This isn’t any ordinary chutney. I developed this recipe for the Movember campaign because it contains all those red super foods. Happily it also tastes great and can make dull food sing, bring a boring sandwich to life and turn a dreary burger into a masterpiece. And, as long as you’ve enough gas, you can make it in a camper van.
- 6 ripe tomatoes
- 1 large red onion
- 1 red pepper
- 1 red chilli
- vegetable oil, for frying
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 100 mls white wine vinegar
- 8 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp salt
Peel, core and chop the tomatoes; peeling them is easy if you first soak them in boiling water for a minute, then drain them. Peel and finely chop the onion. Core and chop the pepper and finely chop the chilli. In a pan, gently fry the red onion in a little vegetable oil for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes, pepper, chilli, turmeric, mustard and sprigs of rosemary to the pan. Simmer everything gently, uncovered, for about 30 minutes or until the tomatoes are reduced to a pulp.
Next, stir in the vinegar, sugar and a teaspoon of salt and simmer until all the liquid has evaporated: this will take 15-20 minutes. Remove the rosemary sprigs, then tip the man jam into a jar (or bowl), cool and cover.
Martin Dorey is a writer, surfer, VW owner and keen shrimper (he was also the presenter of a BBC2 TV show called ‘One man And His Campervan’ and the author of ‘The Camper Van Cookbook’. Martin is a surfer first and an authority on the apostrophe second. He can often be found eating out of rock pools.
martindorey.com