Vinegary Chilli Jam

Asked by danielle claire. Answered on 1st June 2015

Full question

Hello, I made my first batch of Chilli Jam and followed the recipe exactly using jam sugar and cider vinegar. It has set well but has a strong smell and taste of vinegar. Do you have any idea how I can avoid this next time? Thank you, Danielle

Our answer

Nigella's Chilli Jam (from Christmas and on the Nigella website) is not sweet like a regular jam, but is a condiment for cheeses and cold meats and so has a sweet and sour quality. It is made with (apple) cider vinegar and this is a fairly mild vinegar. If you are using the raw or unfiltered type of cider vinegar then it may have a slightly stronger flavour, but we believe the difference is more in appearance (the unfiltered version is cloudy) than taste.

You could try using a distilled white vinegar (sometimes called virgin vinegar) instead of the cider vinegar. This is made from distilled alcohol so is very neutral in flavour, but as it is a vinegar it will still have an acidic quality.