Tasting Notes

Jams

  • Willamette Raspberry
  • Yarra Valley Strawberry
  • Blackberry
  • Raspberry and Strawberry
  • Summerberry
  • Apricot and Almond
  • Rhubarb and Strawberry
  • Blood Plum
  • Morello Cherry
  • Blueberry Conserve

Our jams are cooked in French preserving pans in small batches to allow the true flavour of the fruit to stand out. Cunliffe & Waters jams contain only the fruit on the label and we add freshly squeezed lemon juice to help set the fruit and give our jams a lovely tart finish.

Natural fruit pectin is added at the end of the cooking process to help set the jam, thus preserving the colour and flavour of each jar.

Things that go with jam...

  • Scones, toast and croissant - of course!
  • A generous spoonful stirred through natural yoghurt.
  • Spread a layer on a sponge cake, line a tart case or glaze a strawberry shortcake.
  • Our Willamette Raspberry jam in a doughnut is getting pretty close to heaven.
  • Spoon on top of custard tarts or Danish pastries.
  • Drizzle over crushed up meringues, berries and cream aka Eton mess.
  • Thin slightly with a little boiling water as a coulis for ice cream.

Marmalades

  • Hand Cut Cumquat
  • Triple Citrus
  • Pink Grapefruit
  • Blood Orange and Ruby Grapefruit
  • Seville Orange
  • Coldstream Dark
  • Mandarin Marmalade
  • Plus guest appearances of other varieties when we find some really exceptional fruit.

Whether you like your marmalade sweet, sour or bitter, we have something to suit all taste buds. Our marmalades are thick with fruit, as traditionally they should be, but sadly almost never found in commercial brands.

Citrus has a very short picking season and so in August and September we are very busy preparing and making an entire year’s worth of marmalade. To this end we sometimes fall a little short of some stock in May and June (we are currently looking at purchasing a crystal ball), but marmalade lovers rest assured, you will only ever eat Australian citrus fruit under our label.

Things that go with marmalade...

  • Use as a glaze for ham or a butterflied leg of lamb - just add a pinch of ginger powder and cover generously, remembering to baste often.
  • Spread on a bread and butter pudding (along with the butter).
  • Do it Pommy style and have it on a crumpet.
  • Stir through ice cream - the Coldstream Dark Marmalade is wickedly good like this.
  • Add a good spoonful to deglaze a pan after cooking lamb chops.

Relishes

It would appear no commercial brand of preserves adheres to any hard and fast rules when it comes to categorising their products as a relish, chutney or pickle.

Traditionally a relish is more like a sauce than a chutney, with a more savoury flavour. Our relishes are both a little on the sweet side with loads of subtle spices and secret ingredients. All our savoury products are made in slightly larger batches than our sweet preserves, but they are still handmade with the same meticulous attention to flavour and detail.

Our Tomato and Capsicum Relish is a lovely red colour. It has a nice bitey tang, but it is certainly not hot and therefore is a perfect ‘safe’ gift. We’re quite proud to acknowledge we have caused hundreds of people to become addicted to this product. Don’t leave home without it!

Onto the gorgeous Beetroot and Orange Relish and all we can really say is the flavour and texture match its wonderful colour. This product strikes a balance between the earthiness of beetroot and the tartness of orange and finishes with a tiny chilli hit.

Things that go with relish...

Tomato and Red Capsicum Relish

  • In sandwiches and baguettes
  • All barbecued meats
  • Under melted cheese on toast
  • With a baked potato and sour cream
  • With a bacon and egg fry-up
  • In hamburger or meatloaf mix
  • With Mexican food
  • Stirred into a soup or casserole
  • On a cheese or antipasto platter

Beetroot and Orange Relish:

  • Goes beautifully with pate or terrine-don't forget the cornichon
  • Game meats such as kangaroo or venisonv
  • Cheese platters
  • The yummiest home-made burger; with good mayo, melted cheddar, salad leaves and a crusty roll
  • Stir through yoghurt or creamed cheese as a dip

Chutneys & Pickles

Put very simply, a chutney is a mixture of fruit and/or vegetables cooked slowly with sugar, vinegar and spices until a thick, pulpy texture is achieved with both sweet and sour flavours. Unlike chutney, a pickle tends to have larger, or even whole pieces of vegetable or fruit and has a more savoury taste.

Our range of chutneys and pickles contain a unique blend of spices to help enhance the true flavours of the very best available fruit and vegetables.

Things that go with chutneys and pickles...

Pear and Raisin Chutney

  • Ham off the bone
  • Cold roast pork
  • With a bloody good cheddar
  • Cornish Pasty
  • Meatloaf and Mash

Peach and Ginger Chutney

  • Great with a lamb curry
  • Samosas or kebabs
  • On a ham and avocado sandwich

Mango and Pineapple Chutney

  • For a fabulous chicken sandwich, mix chutney with good mayo, diced cold chicken, celery and toasted flaked almonds
  • Cools down a hot curry

Peppered Apple and Lemon Chutney

  • Black Pudding... really!
  • Barbecued chicken or quail
  • Serve with pappadums and raita as an accompaniment to an Indian meal
  • Another great match with cheddar

Green Tomato Pickle

  • Mandatory with a cold roast lamb sandwich
  • On a ploughman’s lunch along with corned beef, unsalted butter, a sharp cheese and good bread. Oh, and definitely a nice drop of lager!
  • Shepherd’s Pie

Special Black Label Products

You may well ask “What makes these products so ‘special’ when all Cunliffe & Water’s products are exactly that?” Good question! I’m sure you’re getting the gist by now that our products are intensively hand made, and this range tends to be more so. Coupled with some fairly gorgeous raw materials and the larger 300ml jar, our Black Label Range is slightly more expensive, but oh so worth it.

Things that go with special black label things...

Count Vasiliev’s Mustard
Apricot Mustard

  • Our mustards are both English hot (with the Apricot Mustard both sweet and hot) so a little goes rather a long way.
  • Mix with equal parts port and glaze a clove studded ham.
  • Sausages and pork chops
  • A ham sandwich doesn’t cut the mustard without a touch of the Count’s on it

Preserved Lemons

  • Chop finely and stir through softened creamed cheese and smoked trout as a dip
  • Chop and mix with whole egg mayonnaise to have with crayfish & prawns
  • Cous cous
  • Chicken Tagine

Aubergine and Chilli Pickle

  • Mix equal parts Greek style yoghurt and fresh coriander for a deliciously addictive dip
  • On pizza
  • Toss through green beans

Cranberry Relish

  • With all the traditional Christmas meats
  • Leftover Turkey sandwich
  • Chicken sausages

Caroline’s Onion Jam

  • With goat’s cheese in a tart
  • Sausages and mash
  • Goes beautifully with both brie and a stinky blue cheese

Tomato Kasoundi

  • An Indian recipe that makes a wonderfully mild, but aromatic curry
  • base - just add a splash of coconut milk
  • Marinate meats for the barbecue
  • Mix with yoghurt, chicken and cucumber and serve in a wrap - ridiculously healthy!

Chilli Jam

  • A dipping sauce for spring rolls, wontons and other Asian treats
  • With souvlaki and falafel
  • Try with a bacon and egg fry up

Apple and Mint Jam for Lamb

  • As the name suggests, but don’t forget it goes equally well with pork

Caramelised Fig and Quince Jam

  • Absolutely a must with a cheese platter
  • With a pork fillet wrapped in prosciutto
  • In the smartest bread and butter pudding around

Hand Cut Cumquat Marmaladev

  • The undisputed King of Marmalades
  • On an English muffin with lashings of butter
  • Mix with mustard as a glaze for poultry

Bread and Butter Cucumber Pickle

  • On crusty sourdough with creamed cheese and smoked salmon
  • Chop into a tartare sauce
  • With cold corned beef

Apricot and Prune Chutney

  • With turkey, chicken or pork
  • Add a little apple juice and blend until you have a sauce consistency

Posh Pickled Onion

  • No! Not named for the scrawny footballer’s wife, our version of the humble pickled onion is slightly more refined than the original.
  • A perfect match with sharp cheeses
  • On a bratwurst sausage

Lime and Date Chutney

  • A very authentic accompaniment to a curry
  • On an oatcake with a nice sharp cheddar
  • Stir through a little yoghurt for a dipping sauce for meatballs

Sauces

Our range of sauces is as diverse in flavour as they are delicious, from the Asian influenced Hot Sour Sweet Salty, through to the very traditional sauces for the Aussie barbecue to our exceptional pasta sauce. We have just launched two dessert sauces made with the same exceptional fruit we use in our jams, but with a softer set making them perfect for baking and dessert.

Things that go with sauces...

Hot Sour Sweet Salty Sauce

  • The simplest and tastiest stir fry you’ll ever make
  • As the dressing for a Thai beef salad
  • Sautéed prawns adding a splash of coconut milk and fresh coriander at the end

Spicy Blood Plum Sauce

  • In a Peking duck pancake
  • As a dipping sauce for dim sum
  • With barbecued chicken

Old Fashioned Tomato Sauce

  • Compulsory with a barbecue
  • On your good old meat pie
  • Mix with cream and Worcestershire for a cocktail sauce to accompany prawns

Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce

  • Makes the most wonderfully addictive chicken parmi
  • Add tuna, capers and good parmesan
  • As a pizza base

Strawberry and Summerberry Sauces

  • As a topping for ice cream
  • Stir through yoghurt
  • Drizzle over crushed up meringues and cream

Old Fashioned Meringues

Simply made with free range egg whites and sugar, our old fashioned meringues are crisp on the outside and chewy in the centre. Be warned; our meringues are highly addictive.

Things that go with old fashioned meringues...

  • Crush with fresh berries and cream for a wonderful Eton Mess
  • An essential part of any afternoon tea
  • A perfect dinner party gift