The Scilly Isles: Adam’s Fish and Chips

In my eyes, there can be no better holiday destination than the Scilly Isles. To celebrate finishing the MA and the hand-in of the dissertation, Roger and I travelled by taxi, train, ferry and then by smaller boat to spend a few weeks on our favourite islands off the coast of Cornwall. A weird coincidence with Roger is that when we first started going out, he once wistfully described a book he used to read as a child that had a tiny little picture of Tresco Island in it, and told me that he’d dreamed his whole life about going there one day. This heart-rending tale set me off on an epic account of family holidays and idyllic childhood memories, which made him rather jealous (most things do), but it also drove my mum to the internet, where she immediately sourced a free space on Bryher campsite for two weeks for me and Roger to live out his dream. And so a summer holiday tradition was born.

Plum-go Chutney

Sorry if this is a boring photo, but you can't really sex up chutney.

It’s no secret that I love fruit straight from the tree at harvest time, but when I got back from the Scilly Isles and took the train home, our neighbour Ken gave us a BUCKET of plums and I began to feel pretty scared that they might go off if I didn’t deal with them quickly enough. The end result was that I embarked on a large-scale operation of chutney and cake making. We had crumbles coming out of our ears and compotes filling up the freezer, not to mention sauces and pickles taking up every empty jar.

After I’d made an old favourite (Nigella’s Chinese-style plum dipping sauce), I began to consider the other options that were open to me. Having looked up a few recipes online, I decided to make a few jars of mango chutney: with plums. Hence “Plum-go” chutney. Basically, all of the spices are the same as those that you’d find in a mango chutney and it does taste very similar. It’s a good idea if you’ve got a glut of fruit to use up, rather than shelling out for precious mangoes!

It’s finished! Off to the Scilly Isles to celebrate!