Growing-your-own and whipping up preserves is bang-on-trend at the moment. With the Big Allotment Challenge having just finished its second season (in its new time slot of 9pm on a Friday, might I add), Thane Prince’s “foodie” slot has inspired thousands of people to get into their gardens this spring. She’s become the Nigella Lawson of the relish world with tasting close-ups bordering on the indecent - but we’ll forgive her as it’s just oh-so-delicious to watch.
It therefore seems perfectly appropriate to showcase Nanny Violets Jams! They home-make seriously scrummy jams, marmalade, relishes and other preserves using both home-grown and locally sourced regional produce within the Royal Forest of Dean. It’s a small fiercely British business run by brother and sister Shaun and Jodie who are the grandson and granddaughter of the eponymous Nanny Vi.
The lady behind the name…
Nanny Vi will be 100 years old in less than 2 weeks!
Nanny Vi is 99 years old and the inspiration behind the brand. It’s such a beautiful back story with Shaun and Jodie recreating recipes passed down to (and perfected by) Nanny Violet from her own father.
Nanny Violet is a true cockney having been born within the sounds of bow bells. The recipes were passed to her from her father who owned a wet fish restaurant and whom during World War Two taught a young Nanny Vi how to make preserves, especially jams for the soldiers whom she would always find being fed free of charge by her father.
Nanny Violets Jams came about 4 years ago when Shaun discovered a dusty battered black recipe book lovingly cultivated by Nanny Vi. Thinking they’d make the ultimate Christmas gift, he asked Vi to help him make up some of the recipes. Needless to say they went down a treat and those who had received the preserves as gifts, duly asked Shaun to prepare more to give away themselves.
Now a thriving Facebook business, Shaun and Jodie sell sets starting from just £6 that are lovingly presented and make the perfect gift for all manner of occasions… or even just a cheeky treat for the true foodie.
The review…
First up, how amazing does this look? … Well worth a little tweet!
This selection and presentation isn’t reserved for promos either - every gift is just as beautifully wrapped and delivered to your door. Whether your pick a long box, oval box, heart-shaped box (like mine), basket or even individual jars - no request is too little to warrant the Nanny Violet treatment.
In my box, I received a scrumptious selection of savory relishes and chutneys:
In short, we loved them!
The highlight for us both was the mango chutney which blew our local tandoori’s out of the water with its spicy, rich and fruity flavour. We devoured this in a few minutes with a pack of cool tortilla crisps and were left wide-eyed at the prospect of more.
A close second was the tangy french bean chutney with generous lumps of bean in almost jelly-like texture. There’s not much this wouldn’t complement food-wise.
The tomato and chilli chutney was equally delicious. It’s very sweet with a subtle and belated kick. It would be really great to see a vamped up version for the daring, but for us it was a perfect accompaniment to poppadoms before a very naughty Indian this weekend.
The spiced apple and plum chutney was incredibly sweet and would make a perfect pairing with applewood smoked cheddar. Finally, the onion jelly tasted like pureed pickled onion; sweet, vinegary and packed one hell of a punch. Team this one with water crackers and more cheese for a delicious apres-dinner experience.
We both agreed this would make the perfect gift for a foodie fan and at £12 for our set, would be the perfect epilogue to a carefully planned dinner party.
To find out more for yourself, head on over to Facebook and peruse the delectable menu. You can also see shorter versions of their news, along with regular updates about Nanny Vi, over on Twitter.
