Vendor Blender: The DP Chutney Collective

Hello Greenpoint Food Marketers!

Happy Rainy Monday. We are deep in prep mode for some super amazing event coming up in the next few weeks. Make sure to check out Brooklyn Lyceum’s Food & Craft Market this weekend where a few GFM vendors will be sharing their delicious foodstuffs alongside handy crafters. We’ll have announcements for other events soon!

Today’s weekly Vendor Blender presents The DP Chutney Collective!

What is The DP Chutney Collective?

It began with the now familiar story of getting laid off during the economic downturn . After too many weeks spent in faux-speakeasies, I decided to start a micro-business hawking the chutneys I’d been making for years as gifts for close friends and family. It’s called a collective because I make more than chutney and because I’m fortunate to have a wide network of supportive taste testers and helpers with very creative suggestions and strong opinions.

The D P Chutney Collective is an ever-expanding line of exotic condiments produced here in Greenpoint. On a very small scale we’re trying to introduce chutneys to people who don’t typically eat them or else relegate them to Indian take-out meals only. Or conversely, provide them for diners with a taste for big, bold flavors who can’t find a decent chutney selection elsewhere. We like to think of The Collective’s chutneys as culinary exclamation points to any meal and filling a void in the market (albeit a quirky, niche one), brightening charcuterie/cheese boards and backyard bbqs everywhere.

How did the inspiration for it come about?

I grew up in the South where the pickle/relish/condiment tray is a staple at most meals. Then 20 years ago I moved to NYC and fell in love with the vast range of Indian/Indonesian/South Asian food available and began cooking it at home. Chutneys, sambals and sauces quickly became the favorite things to make. After a brief stint cooking in a restaurant in London I gained deeper knowledge but realized I’d rather cook and sell my own product than deal with kitchen egos.

Where do you source your ingredients?

As much as possible from local, sustainable farms and small businesses. Our cider vinegar comes from an orchard in Greene County, NY, the honey from a tiny, family-run apiary in the Finger Lakes region, the jars from Roebling Street! We’re building new relationships with lots of NY and NJ farmers so roughly 75% of our produce will be sourced from within a 90 mile radius this summer. Plus we have friends with vegetable plots in Brooklyn community gardens we hope to soon plunder! The Collective uses 20+ different spices in our full range of products and those are purchased from Mountain Rose, an amazing online source for traceable Fair Trade products.

What is your favorite and care to share a recipe?

Right now is all about Spice Route Citrus Chutney with small chunks of really good Parmesan or aged Provolone, served with aperitifs. Plum Ketchup is going everywhere, from home-made fries to a glaze on roast duck and chicken, and we never make an omelet without the Sweet Tomato and Black Mustard Seed Chutney.

A lot of the chutneys take a long time to cook and a large number of spices to develop deep flavors. The recipe below for a Rhubarb Chutney is easy to make and good with fish and vegetarian meals.

RHUBARB CHUTNEY

2 lbs washed and sliced rhubarb
2 large onions chopped fine
8oz sultanas
8 oz demerara sugar
10 whole tomatoes cut into quarters
1 pint of malt vinegar
2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil

1. Fry the tomatoes in a large pan on a medium heat until they are soft
2. Add the rhubarb, onions and sultanas and stir. Bring to the boil and stir all the time, use a wooden spoon. Keep it at a low simmer.
3.Add the sugar and simmer until the sugar dissolves.
4. Pour in the vinegar, mix all the ingredients and simmer until the chutney starts to thicken.

This chutney will also go well with all cold meats, cheeses, pasta and bread.

What does your chutney go well with? What does it NOT go well with?

Chutneys marry well with most cheeses, roast chicken and other poultry, rice and beans, burgers of all types . . . almost anything, anytime you need a sweet/spicy contrast to a savory dish. Chutney never met a pork or lamb chop it didn’t love. Some are better with specific partners; for example, Blueberry Chutney has a natural affinity for venison and wild game and strong, aged dry Gouda or ultra creamy Brie and Camembert. Other than cheese I would not suggest chutney with dessert. Oops! Some have told us they love the Kerala Pineapple Chutney on vanilla ice cream.

Why the decision to share DP Chutney Collective at GFM?

GFM and Brooklyn’s locavore movement were major inspirations behind the formation of The Collective. It’s a dream to be able to sell these chutneys within a block of their origin. The entire GFM community is so embracing and kind and adventurous when it comes to the palette; we’re proud to be participants.

Website? Contact? Where else might we find your awesome foodstuffs?

Check out the blog at www.thedpchutneycollective.blogspot.com for more info, recipes, suggested food pairings etc. You can also email us there and order chutneys online. Soon we’ll be on the shelves of several NY metro area shops and right now most of the line is carried at an amazing specialty store in Atlanta called Tuckaway Downs. This is just the beginning . . .