🌶️ Why do you call it Relish and not Chilli Jam?
Why do you call yours relish and not chilli jam?
Because of UK food labelling rules at the time everythingCHILLI began.
If you’ve ever picked up an everythingCHILLI jar and thought, “Hawd oan… this looks like chilli jam, smells like chilli jam, and tastes like chilli jam ... so why does it say relish on the label?”
You’re not wrong. Here’s the story.
🏛️ Blame the Food Regulations
When I first started out waaaay back in 2009(!) food labelling rules in the UK were a bit strict about what could officially be called jam. And they still are ... kinda. Quite right too.
“Jam” is what is known as a 'reserved description' and is only for a fruit preserve with a minimum amount of fruit and sugar, and not too much else. Certainly not savoury ingredients like tomatoes, vinegar, or chillies.
So even although my early recipes had that same glossy, spoonable texture and sweet flavour, they didn’t quite fit the official “jam” definition.
Despite one or two other (and bigger) businesses marketing chilli jams, because I'm a stickler for accuracy (and quite an all round goody goody, it has to be said) to stay on the right side of the law I called them relishes. Which technically speaking, they are.
🧂 Times (and guidance interpretation) have changed
Since then things have relaxed a bit around this naming convention.
These days lots of producers use chilli jam as a catch-all term for that sweet, spicy, sticky preserve we all know and love, and that’s perfectly acceptable on labels now. Basically, the horse has bolted, most folk now know what the term means, and Trading Standards folk have agreed to just let it go.
So yes, my 'relishes' are, in spirit and flavour, very much chilli jams.
Same small-batch care, same balance of heat and sweetness - just born in an era of more rigorously applied definitions. You'll have seen the term 'chilli jam' being used a bit more in my marketing these days too.
❤️ Call it what you like, I call it delicious
Whether you say chilli relish, chilli jam, spicy spread, or even hot preserve, what’s inside the jar hasn’t changed: real ingredients, balanced heat, and scrumptious irresistible flavour.
So next time someone asks, “Is it jam or relish?” you can smile and say, “It’s everythingCHILLI, it’s both.”
TL;DR
Is chilli jam the same as chilli relish?
They’re nearly identical - both sweet, spicy preserves made with chillies. It's just a naming convention really.