Pan Yan Pickle recipe
Jan 05, 2010
*PLEASE NOTE - this is a very old blog post - WE NO LONGER SELL PAN YAN PICKLE - Thank you :D *
Happy New Year, at present it's a very pretty one although I would like the snow to go fairly soon.
I was contacted by quite a few people last year when a jar of pan yan pickle was shown in the background during Kirsties Homemade Christmas. I was initiated into the story of the lost recipe and the 'to date' failure of Premier Foods to reproduce the product once so familiar to so many. I promised to investigate and eventually blog.
The jar behind me was made by Rose who sells in the local market. She says her recipe is one passed down to her from her mother, its main constituents are: spiced vinegar, apples, sugar and saltanas. I searched online and discovered there are variations on this recipe type using curry powder etc
The original recipe taken from ageneric jar of Pan Yan Pickle shown 19.03.08 on mailonline. is as follows
Rutabagar (swede), sugar, apples, carrots, vinegar, thickener (modified starch) gerkins, acetic acid, peppers, onions, spices, colour (caramel), flavourings.
As I am told the pickle was a fine dice one, I suspect the swede/carrots etc were bought in pre-diced to provide the texture, there would be a background of apple (hence its preponderance in the other recipes ) within an spiced emulsion/sauce. The recipe would be fairly easy to unpick if I had tasted it.
I like a challenge and if you can tell me your memories of its flavour as precisely as possible I would be happy to have a go at reconstituting it. This comes with the caviat that I don't buy in pre-prepared vegetables so the texture won't be accurate.
Once I have sufficient feedback to try and work out the 'spices' and 'flavourings' I will make a batch and put it on the website so it can be sampled. If it manages to replicate the pickle then I will put the recipe in the book and/or offer it to Premier Foods as it is essentially a pickle for mass production.
If this is too much bother you may like to try Fortnum's pickle (I was given a jar at Christmas......you have to check out the opposition) Ingredients (not in full): sugar, vinegar, swede, parsnip, carrot, turnip, apple etc a similar texture (pre prep veg etc) to that described.
I'll be fascinated to see what the response is.........over to you, this is definitely something I can't do alone!
******************** *UPDATE* May 2013 ..... http://cranfieldsfoods.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/panyan-pickle-reconstructed/ Better late than never! ********************
61 comments
Haha. Had a really good laugh reading these comments. We clearly all agree we loved Pan Yan. I can taste it now. Like Michael I could polish off most of a jar at my grandparents and have never had the same since. And, Michael, strangely I bought a jar of Heinz ploughmans just other day and which you suggest in your post. Please let’s keep the search alive. Some very good tips on here about how to experiment e.g. Use white vinegar and white sugar. Keep in touch
I remember as a young boy,growing up on the “Race course estate”in Northolt ’52to’70.Me mum and dad God bless them always used to buy Pan Yan pickle.l seem to remember it tasted fruitier than the others.l miss those days so bad and the gorgeous flavour of Pan Yan pickle.regards Gary Mills re.Redcar Close,Epsom Close.Northolt.
I have longed for Pan Yan for years and my mouth still waters when I think about it. I remember it as part of our relish supplies and especially meat sandwiches with Pan Yan used as a spread. It was very dark in colour and very tangy. The band we always had was Maconochies and I had assumed it was stopped being imported from the UK. Here in Newfoundland we do not get as many British foods as we did prior to and shortly after confederation with Canada in 1949. I would dearly love to taste it again!