The importance of rituals

and a recipe for Christmas chutney..

Last Christmas, at the turn of 2023, I couldn't stop thinking about rituals aka traditions, and how they give our lives a sense of rhythm which can be highly comforting. As well as rhythm, these rituals also provide things to look forward to throughout the year.

I tend to struggle with spontaneity and if I don't plan something I want to do properly, I find it's easy to forget about it once something else inevitably takes hold in my brain. The days and weeks pass without me achieving what I wanted to get done. Rather than just keep a giant to-do list, I've found that I'm the kind of person that needs to write down everything I want to do and then throw it all in a calendar—doing each item as and when I get that notification to do so; weeks or months down the line. Filling my calendar in this way seems to work far more than a to-do list does. Isn't seeing a list of 50 things you want to get done just plain terrifying!? However, dotting those 50 tasks throughout the next 3 months (or longer) is an easier pill to swallow.

As I began thinking more about this idea, I started designing my year by having these rituals dotted throughout. It became a list of things that I wanted to do each and every year and I'd set them as reoccurring calendar events. Things that would become part of the fabric of my life.

But without meaning to, things started to get a little lopsided to being around Christmas. Doesn't it just seem to be the perfect time of year to fill with these small rituals and traditions? Making a batch of Christmas chutney, visiting that lovely antiques shop on Christmas eve, drinking plenty of mulled wine, making my '100 best things that happened this year' list, reading a new book, watching Home Alone (of course!), reviewing my root document, reflecting on the year that has just been etc.. It's a good time of year to reflect on the past and the future.

This post is about that first one on the list though. Making a batch of Christmas chutney is one tradition that I've managed to keep for the past 13 years. For a long time I would make it in November so the flavours had time to mellow before digging into the jar at Christmas. However, recently I've started making it and saving it until next year to let the flavours reeeally mature. A real-life example of the marshmallow experiment! I simply cannot recommend this recipe enough, I promise you won't regret it. It makes a great gift and is delicious on anything; meat, cheese, vegetable curry, whatever. Please try it and let me know how you get on.

Ingredients

• 900g tomatoes

• 700g onion

• 3 red peppers, 1 large aubergine, 1 green pepper (900g altogether)

• 4 fat cloves of garlic

• 300ml or 1/2 pint white wine vinegar

• 350g granulated sugar

• 1 tbsp salt

• 1 tbsp paprika

• 1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed

• 2 tsp cayenne pepper

Method

1. Begin by peeling the tomatoes; bring a small saucepan of water to boil, cut an "X" on the bottom of each tomato and prick the tomato skin in a few places. Submerge the tomatoes into the boiling water for 30 seconds, take them out and drop them into a bowl of chilled water. The skins should come away easily now and can be discarded.

2. Roughly chop the tomatoes, aubergine & seed and chop the peppers. Finely dice the onions and garlic and throw everything into a big heavy-bottomed pan. No need for any oil. Bring this vegetable mixture to a boil over a medium heat—the tomatoes and aubergine will release their liquid quickly so you don't need to add any water.

3. Cover with a lid and continue boiling for an hour, stirring every now and then, until everything is really soft.

4. Tip all the other ingredients in, turn the heat up a bit and make sure the sugar has fully dissolved. Continue to boil for about 30 minutes longer until the chutney is thick and chunky. There shouldn't be any surplus liquid on top. Take care to stir it well towards the end of cooking so that the mixture doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan.

5. Ladle it into sterilised jars (I like to wash them in very hot soapy water and then dry for 30 minutes in a low-heat oven). Close the jars whilst both the mixture and jars are hot and then flip the sealed jars upside down to sterilise the inside of the lid.

6. Store in a cool, dark place for at least a month—but I really mean it when I say that if you can wait a whole year it'll be worth it!

This is how we used to jar it up when my wife and I had a little coffee shop on the outskirts of Tokyo. We made this every year and it found many fans in the local neighbourhood!

What are the rituals or traditions that guide you through your year? Please do let me know down in the comments.

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SJF