What did the roast beef and cheese sandwich say to the green tomato pickles? You complete me... or maybe that's just a line from a bad Tom Cruise movie. Anyway these pickles are so delicious. I have just finished smothering a bread roll in this spicy spread and devouring it, and believe me it really does make the sandwich complete!

There are so many traditional recipes that I remember my grandparents making when I was small. I have noticed they just don’t seem to get made anymore! When I was younger everyone was making, and giving away, chutneys, pickles, relishes and jams. This recipe is a real blast from the past. My taste buds instantly remembered this flavour from my childhood. It took me back to eating roast beef and cheese sandwiches at nan's, with heaps of pickles and chunks of real butter.

So how did I come to be sharing a recipe for Green Tomato Pickles. I had just made my Tomato Chilli Chutney from the excess tomatoes in my garden.  A friend commented that his mother made the best Green Tomato Pickles.  After talking about the pickles for a while Craig decided that it was time he should learn how to make it. He was going to engage the assistance of his mother Maureen to make his own batch of the famous recipe.

As it turns out, finding 6kgs of green tomatoes isn’t that easy, but after a trip to Ricardo’s Tomatoes in Port Macquarie the vital ingredient was secured. The pickle making is a two day process so Craig’s mother kindly offered to dedicate two days to the pickling and teaching of her recipe. The result would be three batches of pickles or about 18 jars!

I have given the recipe for a single batch which is about six jars.

Ingredients:

1.9kgs Green Tomatoes

400gms Onion

9 Tbs salt

900gm sugar

750ml vinegar

¾ cup flour

3 Tbs Curry powder

1 Tbs Ground Turmeric

One of the really cute things about this recipe is that it was typed on nice little indexed cards in pounds! We had to convert the recipe to metric as we went.

Method:

Day 1

Wash the tomatoes, remove any stalks and dry them thoroughly.

Chop the tomatoes and onions into a similar sized dice. In a large saucepan add a layer of 1/3 of the tomatoes and 1/3 of the onions, add 1/3 of the salt evenly over the layer.

Continue this process until you have three layers. Cover the saucepan and leave to stand overnight.  This will draw out any moisture.

Day 2

Drain off all the liquid from the tomato mixture.

Boil a jug with hot water and pour over the tomato mixture and drain again. Do this twice to remove all the salt.

Put the tomatoes on the stove and add 450ml of white vinegar. Bring the mixture to the boil cover and then cook for ten minutes using a timer.

In the meantime in a bowl combine the flour, turmeric, and curry powder with the remaining 300mls vinegar until it becomes a paste. Reserve for later use.

Once the tomato has boiled for ten minutes add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

Turn off the heat and add the paste slowly to the tomato mixture while stirring.  Avoid lumps by adding the paste slowly and continuing to stir.

Once the paste has been fully combined, place the pickles over a low heat and simmer gently. Pickles should be cooked for another 10 minutes, or until the mixture has reached the desired consistency.

Remove from the heat and allow it to cool slightly before bottling in sterilized jars.

Maureen (Craig’s mum) warned us that she would be the quality controller for this recipe. Unless the batches all past the taste test they wouldn’t be allowed out of her kitchen. We have obviously learned well under her watchful eye, because although there were differences in the spiciness of each pickle, they were all delicious.

So thank you so much Maureen for sharing the recipe and your time with me. These pickles are just the way my nana used to make them so I bought a jar out to my mum and my nan.

Both loved them!

So readers, are you like me and have food memories, once you taste something it instantly triggers a time in your life?