I was thinking of making some chutney- proper English chutney - and, if it’s good enough, giving some to the neighbours.
then I started thinking about pickles and other fermented foods.
Does anyone know of a good source of recipes, or maybe have a favourite recipe that they’d be willing to share?
It might depend on what you mean by proper English chutney. For me it would be apple, for OH it would be Branston.
Do you have any of your own produce available?
I was thinking more along the lines of a chutney, like apple in fact. No, nothing of our own - despite Madame’s efforts - I’m assuming I’ll buy stuff.
I love Branston, but I’d assumed the French would find it unpalatable. And it contains something called rutabaga …
I really don’t like swede but I don’t mind it in Branston, oddly.
ETA: There are quite a few recipes online by Delia Smith and Mary Berry if you want traditional ones.
Thanks. I’d forgotten about Mary Berry.
St Mary? How could you? 
Aigre doux, pickles and those sort of things rarely hit the mark with a French palate. But if you call it ‘confit’ then more likely to be tasted with an open mind.
Clever, Jane. That’s a good point, I don’t think the French like things as vinegary as maybe a lot of us do. More sugar?
I suppose those savoury jams, like fig, might be a good idea.
A favorite in my family is something called Watermelon Pickle. It’s wonderful with macaroni & cheese, aka macaroni cheese. The other favorite is Spiced Tomato Jelly aka Spiced Tomato Jam. This is also a favorite with mac 'n cheese.
That’s not very English though, Mary. 
Darn 
. Next time.
It seems a very English thing to do, we’ve a cupboard full of chutneys given to us over the years by English friends…
Ah … our neighbours are all French, but I take your point.
Are you still looking for recipes @Porridge or did you find something by St Mary? I have a recipe book I bought a long time ago that has chutneys and pickles, it’s never let me down.
I can offer you apple (or rhubarb) chutney or apple and tomato chutney recipes if that helps.
The book of preserves, by the women’s institute is quite good, it’s got recipes for a lot of different ways of preserving food, not just pickles and chutneys.
Another one I had, (can’t find now), is River Cottage preserves, I know that’s still available from Amazon.
I don’t know if Porridge is looking for a book or just a recipe. If he wants my one, I’ll copy it or do a photo of the page.
A photo of the page(s) for these would be very kind. I occasionally see rhubarb on the market here, in season, but apples and tomatoes will be easy to find.
In our first house we had rhubarb, and a quince tree. I miss them! I might try an incursion into Madame’s potager to plant some rhubarb.
Of course there are loads of chutney recipes in my English cookbooks… but not in my French cookbooks.
Checking my French “cuisine plaisir” book, the nearest to “chutney” can be found in the Marmelades section. There’s no vinegar involved, but alcohol/eau-de-vie often appears in a recipe (now there’s a surprise 
) 