I now know the difference between salsa and chutney. Then I saw "relish".
- Thread starter evan
- Start date
It is just another condiment.Many of these can and are used interchangeably.
Onion relish might be diced onions with some vinegar and sugar--cooked or uncooked. Pickle relish is cucumbers cooked with vinegar and sugar.
In my opinion, it is just a word to describe an additional ingredient of flavor in a dish--or sandwich.
Onion relish might be diced onions with some vinegar and sugar--cooked or uncooked. Pickle relish is cucumbers cooked with vinegar and sugar.
In my opinion, it is just a word to describe an additional ingredient of flavor in a dish--or sandwich.
richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
Eva, I think the key to this, instead of trying to define them
distinctively against each other as to what one is and what one isn't since the boundaries do run into each other, is to remember the etomology of the words themselves. They're basically condiments.
Relish began as a French condiment.
Chutney began as an Indian condiment.
Salsa began as a Spanish condiment.
And since then, in this modern world, they've all been put into the blender and whirled around. So it is quite possible and reasonable to find that what one calls a salsa in one cuisine could quite correctly be called a chutney or relish in another.
There are, of course, cuisine indicative clues to the origin of one or the other to guide in the naming.
This reminds me of a story of my grandmother. She was a basic German-Southern style cook (meaning she cooked a lot of dishes from her Germanic background combined with the southern US style of cooking). While it was wonderful food, there wasn't too much spicy going on. Her spices were salt and pepper and the flavor of the food. However, she made this wicked "mango relish" (mango being what her generation called a green bell pepper) that would send flames out your ears. She used it to perk up roasts and especially bean dishes. She basically took every hot pepper, bell pepper, green tomato and onion left in the garden in the early fall, ground it all up (memories of sitting in the backyard under the big maple trees, the work tables loaded with pans of vegetables, me cranking the grinder), added vinegar and sugar, and then processed it. To anyone now tasting this, you would swear it was a Tex-Mex hot chili salsa. My grandmother didn't know that word. It was "mango relish". People begged for jars of this stuff.
distinctively against each other as to what one is and what one isn't since the boundaries do run into each other, is to remember the etomology of the words themselves. They're basically condiments.
Relish began as a French condiment.
Chutney began as an Indian condiment.
Salsa began as a Spanish condiment.
And since then, in this modern world, they've all been put into the blender and whirled around. So it is quite possible and reasonable to find that what one calls a salsa in one cuisine could quite correctly be called a chutney or relish in another.
There are, of course, cuisine indicative clues to the origin of one or the other to guide in the naming.
This reminds me of a story of my grandmother. She was a basic German-Southern style cook (meaning she cooked a lot of dishes from her Germanic background combined with the southern US style of cooking). While it was wonderful food, there wasn't too much spicy going on. Her spices were salt and pepper and the flavor of the food. However, she made this wicked "mango relish" (mango being what her generation called a green bell pepper) that would send flames out your ears. She used it to perk up roasts and especially bean dishes. She basically took every hot pepper, bell pepper, green tomato and onion left in the garden in the early fall, ground it all up (memories of sitting in the backyard under the big maple trees, the work tables loaded with pans of vegetables, me cranking the grinder), added vinegar and sugar, and then processed it. To anyone now tasting this, you would swear it was a Tex-Mex hot chili salsa. My grandmother didn't know that word. It was "mango relish". People begged for jars of this stuff.
dawn_mo
Well-known member
People used to ask me to make what your grandmother used to make, and they called it Chow-Chow or
Piccalilli. It varied from region to region, on what ingredients were in it. I have a great recipe for sweet pickle relish that I posted in the favorites.
http://www.finerkitchens.com/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=12&msgid=6
Piccalilli. It varied from region to region, on what ingredients were in it. I have a great recipe for sweet pickle relish that I posted in the favorites.
http://www.finerkitchens.com/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=12&msgid=6
That "Papa's Texas Jalapeno Relish" I posted "over there" is almost exactly. . .
what you describe, but no sugar, no tomatoes (though green ones could be used with the peppers).
Good stuff and I have some 4 year old jars that are still loaded with heat and flavor. Good stuff.
And I grind it in the kitchen with a hand grinder and a fan blowing over the grinder towards another fan blowing out the kitchen window. That grinding the oninons and peppers is a real double whammy. Gets your eyes and nose going and clears the sinuses!
what you describe, but no sugar, no tomatoes (though green ones could be used with the peppers).
Good stuff and I have some 4 year old jars that are still loaded with heat and flavor. Good stuff.
And I grind it in the kitchen with a hand grinder and a fan blowing over the grinder towards another fan blowing out the kitchen window. That grinding the oninons and peppers is a real double whammy. Gets your eyes and nose going and clears the sinuses!