Because there is so much sugar in relish & chutney

white_elephant, Mar 11, 6:38am
from the supermarket I wondered if I could make one using stevia, anyone done this?
duckmoon, Mar 11, 7:21am
haven't done it. but it is possible.

why is there so much sugar - it is a preserving agent
shan4, Mar 11, 9:43am
I saw one the other day calling for stevia n honey as the sweetners so google is your friend.
buzzy110, Mar 11, 7:46pm
If you are going to the trouble to make your own then just use less sugar than in the recipe rather than fiddling around with non-nutritive sweeteners. Over the years of low sugar diet I have found that out of all sweeteners, sugar is still the best. I just try to use much less. Sugar is not the only preservative in chutneys, etc, vinegar is as well.

I do agree with you about how sweet processed pickles, etc are. Once, when served something with one of those preparations on, I wondered if if a mistake had been made and jam had been used. Blerk.
duckmoon, Mar 12, 6:22am
if you follow buzzy approach. I would do two other things
1. be more pedantic than usual in sterilizing jars and
2. assume that it will not keep very long
baalamb, Mar 12, 6:58am
I made a Sweet and Sour Gherkin relish last summer and replaced sugar with liquid sweetener (just stirred it through at end of cooking time). I kept the jars in fridge, but in saying that I dont know how long they would have stayed edible as they disappeared too fast.
illusion_, Mar 13, 9:16am
One has to wonder how many spoonfulls of relish one needs on the plate for a sugar overload
holly-rocks, Mar 14, 2:07am
I'm no expert but i have been making my own relishes / jams ect for probably 15 years. I have tried using less sugar and it just doesn't work that well, like duckmoon said above, it wont keep the same.
buzzy110, Mar 14, 2:38am
For me at least, it isn't a matter of sugar overload. It is a matter of taste. Having a sickly sweet (once again to my palate) on a savoury food is just horrible and ruins the dish. And as I mentioned it is sometimes hard to decide if it is a jam or a relish.

That is one of the reasons prefer fermented condiments. No sugar at all.
deanna14, Mar 14, 2:39am
Yes, sugar and vinegar are preserving agents. Helps things 'keep' for years. So if you change the balances, you end up with something that has a short use by and needs to be kept in the fridge.
whitehead., Mar 14, 5:25am
you can replace some of the vinegar with water as long as you keep it in the fridge and in that was use less sugar . alison hoilst used to use almost no sugar and some thing i cant remember so bring her pickles up and see if you can find it
hestia, Dec 28, 1:53am
I had the same thought. Relish and chutney are condiments, right?