The death of a tradition

[Steve Maskery]

This is very sad news:

Gentleman’s Relish is toast after its maker axes the pungent anchovy spread

Falling sales end production of condiment created in 1828 – but London restaurant Simpson’s keeps it on the menu

www.theguardian.com

Gentleman's Relish is a fine old delicacy, a treat rather than a staple, and certainly not to everyone's taste. But if you get to like it, you love it. Think Marmite on steroids. But apparently not enough of us appreciate it.

I have one pot left of my last batch. I found it on offer in Morrison's last autumn. They were close to BBE date, so probably cost price.

There are recipes online (the original is a closely-guarded secret), but I tried one, it was expensive to make and nobody, including me, liked it
S

 

[Cabinetman]

I had forgotten about this stuff, I seem to remember there was a smutty joke based on it?

 

[fuse]

I have part Scot and part welsh ancestry ( which explains the fiscal reticence and ,respectively, the prolonged bouts of stupidity) so inevitably was fed all sorts of offal and minced-up crap as a child.

Good riddance

 

[Guineafowl21]

Initially tastes like ground-up harbour wall, then it grows on you. That said, I haven’t bought any for years.

Maybe this is a ‘New Coke’ move to boost sales - reintroduce it after the clamour for its return, then we’ll all start buying it again? I’d quite like some now, spread thinly on hot buttered toast.

My wife, of Chinese origin, has all sorts of similarly revolting looking things stored away, that surprisingly make things taste nice. Fermented shrimp paste would be one. Perhaps a re-brand is needed, with a trendy chef extolling its ‘umami bomb’ credentials, and maybe a slightly less double-entendre name.

 

[Steve Maskery]

It's wonderful stuff, used with restraint, for the benefit of those of us, who, not being Philistines, have a refined palate!
Don't knock it until you've tried it, guys.
S

 

[Steve Maskery]

I had forgotten about this stuff, I seem to remember there was a smutty joke based on it?

If there is, I don't want to hear it. Kindly leave the stage!
S

 

[AJB Temple]

It's fairly easy to make something very similar.

 

[Guineafowl21]

I had forgotten about this stuff, I seem to remember there was a smutty joke based on it?

I looked it up in the Viz Profanisaurus, a repository of disgusting schoolboy humour. It’s in there as a euphemism for, well, not for an anchovy-based spread, let’s put it that way.

 

[Steve Maskery]

It's fairly easy to make something very similar.

I'm sure it is, if you have the exact recipe. But in the same way that a lttle knowlege is a dangerous thing, it is very easy to get it very wrong. And making it in very small quantities is making any error even more pronounced.
S