Our daughter-in-law Elpida brought us about 10 kg of pears from Pelion, where her parents, Lina and Christophoros, have a beautiful property by the sea, densely planted with fruit trees and hydrangeas.

                                                   PELION PEAR CHUTNEY

    

         This is a very old recipe of my Mother’s, called “Sweet Mango Chutney”.   I use less sugar than in the original recipe, and prepare it with any available fruit, even tinned fruit like apricots or peaches. Also the procedure is much easier. Cooked like a jam, in 1½ - 2 hours time, one can enjoy a very tasty chutney. 

1 kg (2 lbs) Crystallia pears (I cannot find the botanical name), cored, peeled and   

                                                                                                                    cubed

650 g (1 lb 5 oz) sugar

330 ml (1 1/3 cup) good quality vinegar

40 g (1 1/3 oz) fresh ginger, grated

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

1/8 tsp Cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

330 g (11 oz) raisins, optional

          Bring the sugar and vinegar to the boil, over low heat in a large heavy saucepan, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves.  

          Then add all the other ingredients, except the raisins, and simmer gently, uncovered, stirring from time to time.  After about 1 hour’s patient cooking, lower the heat even more, to a bare simmer, add the raisins, if using, and stir often towards the end, as the chutney thickens to the consistency of jam.   Then remove the saucepan from the fire.  

       The next day bring the chutney to the boil once more and cook, for 5 minutes stirring all the time.   Pour the hot chutney into prepared, sterilized jars and when cold cover with greaseproof paper rounds, and seal tightly.