We’ve had the first Real Storms of the autumn. Gusts of over 60mph were recorded one day and, predictably, the Churchill Barriers were closed. For five and a half hours the life-line link, the road over the top of the causeways built by Italian POW’s during WWII, was too dangerous to cross. KGS (Kirkwall Grammar School) finishes at lunchtime on a Friday and had to stay open when kids from Burray and South Ronaldsay could not get home. We are the Connected Isles but, as with our broadband, we are not always as connected as all that.
It takes quite a lot to close the Barriers and sometimes we wonder whether they should be shut when they remain open. Like this time when we did drive over!
I tried to post a video here but couldn’t - I’ll learn how one day but imagine how it was when the car was literally covered in water and we couldn’t see out at all… You just stay in the middle of the road with your lights on and keep going. And you wait for anything coming the other way to reach land before you set off. Or the sensible drivers do…
The POW’s also left us the remarkable Italian Chapel on Lamb’s Holm, on the site of their camp. It is the most wonderful place, especially if you get there without a coach load (or two) of cruise ship tourists. It is an astonishing transformation of two Nissan huts. I always love to tell our guests that the main lanterns are made out of bully beef tins - you can just see one in front of the ‘stained glass’ window. It is literally all made from salvaged materials, concrete and paint.
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Amazing trompe l’oeil decoration on the walls
With a storm raging - and we have had more since the Friday storm that inspired this piece as it is the season for them - I settled into a day in the kitchen. Years ago I wrote a cookbook all about aubergines: it was one of the most difficult that I have written. Partly because of the challenge of originality and partly because people were less keen to come to supper to eat up all the recipe tests! I had an easy source of ingredients as there was a brilliant local grower with three glasshouses full of the mysterious pendular foodstuffs. I say foodstuffs as they are, apparently, technically a fruit but usually classed as vegetables. Who knew?
My local source now is my friend Louise, a green-fingered newbie to fruit and/or veg growing, who has a huge Polycrub. It’s a storm-resistant polytunnel conceived in Shetland with part of the structure originally made from recycled salmon pens. There are so many Polycrubs around Orkney now - the black struts hold the heat and make them more suitable for exotics like aubergines and peppers than my Keders, much as I love them for leafy veg and fruit - that I wonder if all the black pipes can still be recycled? Anyway, Louise’s aubergines are far too precious for pickles, but I wanted to make the point that even aubergines can be grown in Orkney. But if you build a Polycrub to grow them it does make them rather expensive per kilo.
This chutney is just as good with mango instead of pineapple. In fact, in its original version it was Aubergine and Mango. I now use frozen chopped fruit, either a 500g or 600g bag depending on where you shop. This is so delicious that I always make a double quantity but that does extend the cooking time in order to sufficiently reduce the preserve. It’s brilliant with curries, or with a quick grain, veg and egg dish like today’s lunch.
Sweet Aubergine & Pineapple Chutney Makes about 4 x 500g jars
500-600g frozen chopped pineapple
2 large aubergines
1 large piece fresh root ginger - about 8-10cm
2 red chillies
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp sea salt
568ml bottle distilled malt vinegar
1 kg unrefined Demerara sugar
Thoroughly wash some jars with lids and scrub off any old labels. Rinse well and place upside down on an oven shelf at gas mark 3, 160C, 325F.
You can use the pineapple from frozen or defrosted. Cut the aubergines into 2cm chunks. Peel the ginger, de-seed the chillies then finely chop them together with the garlic.
Place all the ingredients together in a preserving or very large pan and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer for 45-60 minutes until well reduced but still moist.
Pour into the warm jars and seal with painted metal lids. Label the jars when cold. Store in a cool dark place and try to keep for at least a fortnight before eating. This will allow the flavour to start maturing.