THAT’S MY JAM

ONCE YOU’VE TASTED KITCHEN GARDEN CONDIMENTS YOU’LL FREE YOUR FRIDGE DOOR FROM UNFINISHED JARS OF JAM, CHUTNEYS AND PICKLES FOR EVER…

I’m going to start this month’s column with a challenge for you – go and take a look in your fridge and count the number of unfinished jars of pickles, relishes, mustards and jams you have. So often banished to the sidelines of a meal, condiments are the unsung heroes of the dining table. But it's at this time of year, especially, that those curious jars of pickled, potted ingredients really come into their own ­– in fact, I’d go so far as to say that they’re what really make summer eating the pleasure it is.

I love a BBQ, but for me, a hot dog isn’t a great hot dog until you put a great mustard on it. Likewise, when it comes to picnics, a sandwich isn’t a great sandwich until you put a great pickle in it. Far from being an after-thought, condiments have the power to elevate a decent meal into something special – but only if they are special themselves.

Step forward Kitchen Garden, the Stroud-based food company that has been quietly boosting our burgers, pepping up our ploughman’s and treating our toast with home-made condiments for over 30 years. Ever since Barbara Moinet first began making blackberry and apple jam in her own kitchen using fruit foraged from local hedgerows back in 1989, Kitchen Garden has been the go-to brand guaranteed to give your meals a gourmet glow-up. 

In all my years working with local producers in the Cotswolds, Kitchen Garden has been at the heart of the local food scene. Now run by James Moinet and James Horwood, the pair have scaled up the home-made vibe and continue to be economically and entrepreneurially brilliant for the Cotswolds with their innovative approach – all while managing to stay absolutely true to Barbara’s original core values to produce cracking hand-made preserves and condiments (the blackberry and apple jam is still made today using the original recipe).