Chef Thomas
Three-Fruit Marmalade
A gentler winter marmalade of grapefruit, orange, and lemon for cooks who find Seville too sharp, bright and bittersweet and worth a slow January morning at the stove.
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Chef Thomas
Damson Jam
Small, dark damsons cooked down with sugar into a glossy, ruby-black jam that tastes of October mornings and tastes even better in the middle of February.
Chef Thomas
Ploughman's Pickle
A proper ploughman's pickle, dark and sticky and full of bite, made from a heap of winter roots and the kind of patience that pays you back four weeks later.
Chef Thomas
Marrow and Ginger Jam
An old allotment preserve for the late summer glut, marrow turned slow and golden with crystallised ginger and lemon, the kind of jam that earns its place on a winter breakfast table.
Chef Thomas
Bramble Jelly
Hedgerow blackberries cooked down with a cooking apple, strained through muslin until the juice runs clear, then boiled with sugar into a dark, glossy jelly that holds the whole of September in a jar.
Chef Thomas
Piccalilli
A late-summer pickle of cauliflower and beans in a sharp, sunshine-yellow mustard sauce, made now and put away in jars for the cold months when you'll want it most.
Chef Thomas
Pickled Onions
A jar of properly pickled onions, peeled at the kitchen table on an October afternoon and put away to mature in time for cold meat and good cheese at Christmas.
Chef Thomas
Rhubarb and Ginger Jam
Forced rhubarb and stem ginger cooked into the year's first jam, a sharp pink preserve made on a quiet February morning when the garden is still asleep and the kitchen needs something to do.
Chef Thomas
Green Tomato Chutney
A dark, spiced chutney for the end of the tomato season, when the vines have given up and the green fruit needs somewhere useful to go.
Chef Thomas
Pickled Beetroot
Crimson beetroot in spiced vinegar, packed into jars on a Saturday afternoon and waiting in the cupboard for the cold meats and sharp cheeses of the months ahead.
Chef Thomas
Strawberry Jam
A small batch of June strawberry jam, made the way it's always been made: ripe fruit, sugar, lemon, a rolling boil, and a cold saucer to tell you when it's done.
Chef Thomas
Raspberry Jam
A simple summer raspberry jam, the kind you make in twenty minutes on a Saturday morning and eat on toast for the next six months, remembering July every time.
Chef Thomas
Cranberry Sauce
A proper cranberry sauce, sharp and ruby-bright, made in the time it takes the turkey to rest, with a cinnamon stick and the zest of an orange doing most of the talking.
Chef Thomas
Mincemeat
A November mincemeat for the Christmas weeks ahead, dried fruit and suet and spices stirred together with a generous measure of brandy, then left in the cupboard to do its quiet, patient work.
Chef Thomas
Plum Chutney
A dark, glossy plum chutney for the slow end of September, when the trees are heavy and the evenings start asking for cheese, bread, and something with a bit of warmth in it.
Chef Thomas
Apple Chutney
A spiced autumn chutney made from a glut of apples and a quiet afternoon, simmered down until the kitchen smells of October and the jars line up on the counter like a small, useful insurance policy.
Chef Thomas
Lemon Curd
A small jar of lemon curd made the slow way, butter and sugar and eggs and lemons stirred patiently in a pan until it goes glossy and golden and tastes like a window opened in February.
Chef Thomas
Blackcurrant Jam
A dark, sharp, properly old-fashioned blackcurrant jam, made in one afternoon at the height of summer and good enough to make winter toast feel like an event.
Chef Thomas
Redcurrant Jelly
A small batch of garnet-bright redcurrant jelly made in early summer, the kind of preserve that sits in the cupboard waiting patiently for a roast lamb in October.
Chef Thomas
Damson Cheese
A long, slow cook of late-September damsons reduced to a deep mahogany paste firm enough to slice, made for the cheese board on a cold evening when you want something that tastes of the orchard.
Chef Thomas
Pickled Walnuts
Green walnuts picked in midsummer and turned, slowly and patiently, into the inky, spiced jewels that belong on a winter cheeseboard beside a wedge of strong cheddar and a glass of port.
Chef Thomas
Seville Orange Marmalade
A January batch of Seville orange marmalade, bitter and amber and worth the long afternoon it asks of you, for jars that will see you through to next winter.
Chef Thomas
Crab Apple Jelly
A rose-gold jelly made from early autumn windfalls, set on its own pectin and tasting of wild orchards, the kind of jar you reach for in February when summer feels like a long time ago.
Chef Thomas
Runner Bean Chutney
A golden chutney made when the runner beans won't stop coming, slow-cooked with onions, vinegar, and warm spice, then jarred for the cold months when summer feels a long way off.
Chef Thomas
Pickled Red Cabbage
A jar of red cabbage shredded in October and pressed into spiced vinegar, waiting quietly on a high shelf until Christmas, when it turns the cold table jewel-bright and earns its place beside the ham.
Chef Thomas
Gooseberry Jam
The first jam of the year, made from sharp green gooseberries in early June, setting itself almost without help and tasting of the garden waking up after a long quiet winter.
Chef Thomas
Blackberry and Apple Jam
Wild blackberries and a couple of cooking apples turned into jars of deep, inky jam, the kind that holds the taste of a September walk all the way through to spring.
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