The “con brio” to your winter cheese board with its citrus, hot mustard, pear and dried fruit bright mix. And alongside Stilton on a digestive biscuit, it has shot to the top of my favourites list.
This Italian “sweet and sour sauce” take – traditionally is made in the region of Cremona from where comes Italian mustard (“mostarda”) and violins of course. The pears need to retain their “crunch” and not dissolve into a mush so hard varieties such as “Lucas” (as I used here with their rather fluorescent green colour) or “Conference” that grace the shelves in winter, work well.
I have adjusted the recipe to be made with fruit sugar and grape juice concentrate and for an extra taste “pop” added a mix of whole pink, green and black peppercorns and coriander seeds! Unlike jam it does not need any setting so once all the chopping is done it just needs a snooze overnight to macerate in the fridge and then a very gentle simmer before bottling.
Ingredients for 5-6 jars
- 200g dried apricots, chopped
- 90g dried apples, thinly sliced
- 10 dried figs, cut into eighths
- 35g dried cranberries
- 80g dried cherries (Romanian ones checked for stones!)
- 1 large hard pear, peeled, cored and cut into chunks or 2 small pears
- 3 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon mixed pink, green and black peppercorns
- 1.5 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 100g fructose or 150g sugar
- zest and juice of 2 oranges and 1 lemon
- 75g prepared hot English mustard
- a teaspoon of chili flakes
How To
- Place all ingredients in a heavy bottomed pan and leave to macerate overnight
- The following day bring to the boil and simmer very gently for 1-1.5 hours. The hard pears should retain their crunch and the dried fruits should be soft.
- Pot into sterilised jars
Improvs and ideas
Vary the dried fruit according to what you have. Add apples instead of pears. Serve with a cheeseboard or charcuterie.