Branston Pickle
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Branston Pickle is a United Kingdom brand of jarred pickled relish. It was first made in 1922 in the Branston suburb of Burton upon Trent by Crosse & Blackwell. In 2004 the brand was bought by Premier Foods and production was moved to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. Since its introduction, it has gone on to be the brand leader, selling over 28 million jars a year in the UK.[1]
Branston Pickle is sweet and spicy with a chutney-like consistency, containing small chunks of vegetables in a thick brown sticky sauce. It is commonly served as part of a ploughman's lunch, a common menu item in English pubs. It is also frequently combined with cheddar cheese in sandwiches, and most sandwich shops in England offer "cheese and pickle" as an option. It is available in the standard 'chunky' version whilst there is also a 'sandwich' variety, where the vegetable chunks are smaller and easier to spread. In recent times, Premier Foods have also brought out a 'squeezy' variety in a plastic bottle. This version just consists of the sauce and does not contain any vegetable pieces. There was also a spicy type made for a short time, but this did not prove as popular and is now hard to find.
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[edit] The pickle
Branston pickle is made from a variety of diced vegetables, including swede (rutabaga), onions, cauliflower and gherkins pickled in a sauce made from vinegar, tomato, apple and dates with spices such as mustard, coriander, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nutmeg and cayenne pepper.
The nutritional value of Branston Pickle is given on the label of the jar as
| per 100g serving | |
|---|---|
| Energy | 464kJ / 109 calories |
| Protein | 0.3g |
| Carbohydrates | 27g |
| Fat | trace |
| Fibre | 2.2g |
| Sodium | 0.5g |
[edit] The Pickle Crisis of 2004
At 3am on 27 October 2004 a massive fire almost destroyed the entire Bury St Edmunds factory and cut the stocks of Branston Pickle in half [2], thus reducing the supply of the product and in some cases increasing the price. The factory is now back in production and has recently launched Branston Tomato Ketchup and Brown Sauce along with a range of relishes and Baked Beans.
[edit] Trivia
At one stage Walkers Crisps (US - chips) produced a variety called "Cheese and Branston Pickle"[3]
[edit] Other varieties
As with any product that becomes popular, other manufacturers have developed their own brand of a Branston type pickle. Many supermarkets now have generic own brand versions. In order to prevent problems with the registered trade name, the term sweet pickle has been adopted by most manufacturers.
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
- ^ Premier Food web site(accesed 21 february 2007)
- ^ "Blaze forces pickle plant closure", BBC News, 2004-10-27. Retrieved on January 30, 2007.
- ^ Cheese and Branston flavour Walkers Crisps(accessed 21 February 2007)
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