The smell of this sweet and sour “catsup” simmering on my stovetop always brings me back to my childhood.

The history of the recipe: My aunt Lucille, who was the resident cook for the family of 14 after my mom’s mother died when she was very young, always cooked batches of this “catsup” early September. The basic principle of this sauce was not to waste anything. You would never have caught her cut up a perfectly ripe peach for this recipe. Noooo, only bruised fruits and a little older vegetables went in this. Their father was a fruit and vegetable peddler at the marché Jean-Talon when they were young (that would have been in the mid-1930s and on) and often brought back the items that were not sold that day because they were damaged. Nothing was ever thrown away or wasted. This recipe is perfect for that. She was still preparing it in the 1970s on rue Sagard when I was a teenager.

I still find myself keeping bruised peached and pears from the fruit basket I purchase at the farmer’s market in early September for the purpose of making this.

“Ma tante Lucile, qui était le cuisinière chevronnée pour les 14 enfants Hurtubise, suite au décès de leur mère lorsque ma maman était très jeune (dans les années 1930), préparait à chaque automne, une ou deux recettes de ce catsup maison. Le principe de base étant que rien ne se perd! Elle n’aurait jamais utilisé une poire parfaitement bien mûr sans défaut dans cette recette! Seuls les fruits et légumes endommagés trouvaient place dans ce chaudron. Leur père, Alfred Hurtubise, était marchand de fruits et légumes au marché Jean-Talon dans les années 1930-1940. Il rapportait quotidiennement à la maison les produits endommagés qui ne se vendaient pas. Il n’était pas question de ne rien jeter à la poubelle! De là cette recette…..Elle la préparait encore sur la rue Sagard lorsque j’était adolescente dans les années 1970. Je me surprends encore moi-même à conserver les fruits et légumes un peu trop mûris des paniers que j’achète au marché de fermiers en début septembre, afin de reproduire ce catsup.”

Nothing like this catsup to accompany a good tourtière or a pâté chinois. These recipes will come in future blogs posts 🙂

Ingredients

This recipe should yield 5 mason jars of 500ml.

• 1 portion of fruits = 4 cups: 6 pears, 6 peaches and 4 apples (or anything you have as long as you have peaches);
• 1 portion of vegetables = 4 cups: 6 oignons, 3 green peppers and 1 cup of celery (or anything you have but onions are a must);
• 2 portions of tomatoes = 8 cups or 4 lbs of fresh tomatoes peeled and cut up;
• 2 to 3 cups of vinegar (depending on your taste);
• 2 tbsp of pickling spice mix wrapped in a cheesecloth bag to be able to remove them later;
• 
• 2 tbsp of salt;
• 2 cups of sugar.

All fruits must be peeled and cut in small bite pieces. The vegetable should be diced as well as the tomatoes cut in chunks.

Place all the fruits and vegetables in a heavy dutch oven (again here Le Creuset pots are the best). Start the burner at medium to get a gentle boil going. Continue adding the vinegar, the spices and the salt.

DO NOT ADD the sugar at this point or the bottom of your pot will be lost!! Once you have achieved a gentle boil, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer, stirring occasionally. My husband has been well trained over the years and stirs the wooden spoon a few times every time he walks by 🙂

This mixture should simmer for roughly 4 hours or until it has reduced by half. You can then add the sugar and simmer at low for another 30 minutes.

I can the catsup in 500ml and 250ml mason jars and keep some for myself, some for my sister, some for my mother-in-law and for whoever else drops by 🙂

My tradition since living in our house in Mississauga, Ontario, has been to prepare this catsup before lunchtime on a Sunday in early September, with the help of my older sister Anne-Marie. The house then smells heavenly all afternoon while the boys watch football!