Back to Birchtown Chutney

from Saltscapes Food and Travel 2022

Gaol bird tour

Three cannons on a button from the British Royal Artillery of the 1790s, discovered during a Birchtown excavation.

DARCY RHYNO

eventually led to the construction of this grand interpretation centre.

The tour of the grounds continues outside to a one-room schoolhouse and a church. It ends at the former burial grounds. There are no grave markers. Instead, a pair of plaques beneath some apple trees marks this small plot of land as a National Historic Site. An inviting bench with a view of Shelburne Harbour sits at the water’s edge. When we reach the scene, a small deer is feeding beneath the trees. When it spots us, it flees.

If I believed in spirits, I would think it a sign, a reminder of so many who settled here so briefly before continuing their flight back to Africa and freedom, in the process writing a little known chapter in the story of slavery. Back to Birchtown Chutney from Boxing Rock Taproom, Shelburne

Ingredients 4 large apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 2 cm cubes ½ cup raisins 1 small onion, chopped ½ tsp fresh chilli, chopped 1 tsp ginger root, finely chopped or grated 1 tbsp mustard seeds ½ cup white wine vinegar ½ cup Back to Birchtown Old Stock Ale by Boxing Rock ½ cup + 1 tbsp light muscovado sugar

Method Cook apples, raisins, onion, ginger, chilli and mustard seeds until soft. Don’t add water. Just keep stirring for about 15 minutes. Add vinegar, ale and sugar. Cook until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cook gently for 90 minutes until thickened. Store in sterilized jars.