Koshy's Bacon Relish

I love a little sweetness in my savoury dishes. Each time I go out for a meal with my family/friends and a dish is ordered, the minute I see someone crinkle their nose saying “this is so sweet”, I have a big smile on my face and the dish is pushed towards me. PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE – I have ketchup on my Biryani and pineapple on my pizza. I watched the Queen of Katwe last week (brilliant movie) and I share the same sentiments as Ivan who says “Ketchup… it’s the greatest thing ever invented”

When I heard of Bacon Jam last year, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I LOVE Bacon and to have it as a condiment seemed too good to be true. For all those averse to the ‘sweet and savoury combo’ please do not be put off by reading the words ‘Bacon’ and ‘Jam’ together (or Biryani and ketchup). Bacon jam is made by slow cooking bacon with onions, sugar, vinegar and other spices.

My husband and I frequent Koshy’s quite often and that’s where I’d seen their poster advertising Koshy’s –Bacon Relish. Koshy’s is an iconic restaurant located on St.Marks Road. It is a popular meeting place for landlords striking real estate deals, lawyers discussing their case strategies, artists/writers/journalists (I’m presuming it’s one of them in those Khadi kurtas and messenger bags) etc. Each time we went to Koshy’s I’d proclaim that this time I’d definitely buy the jam and for some reason, would walk out without the jam in hand. On my last visit, I bought the Bacon relish at the little bakery just outside the restaurant.

The Relish is available in two flavours- The Original and Smokin’ Spicy.  I picked up the Original. (Like most condiments, this too has to be refrigerated)

PRICE: Rs. 395 for 250 gms

That night, I decided to open the bottle as I couldn’t wait to taste the relish. I offered it to the Husband, who looked away in disgust and said he couldn’t bring himself to eat it, seeing the layer of fat solidified on top. (I had just taken it out of the fridge) I took a spoonful of it and put it in my mouth. The flavour is very intense and the first spoon of it had my eyes tearing up a bit and I also got a mouthful of the solid fat. The bacon bits were sweet, savoury and salty just as they claimed and delicious but the taste of cold meat in my mouth and the aftertaste left me a tad bit disappointed.

(How did I miss the instructions on the bottle that said “serve warm”!)

The next day, as soon as I woke up, I took the Relish out of the fridge. For breakfast, I toasted a few slices of bread, put a generous chunk of the thawed Relish on my toast, added some sautéed onions and bell peppers on it and ate it. YUMMY!

That evening I spread it on crackers. Skip and the Husband looked away when I offered it to them.

Today I had it with toast and scrambled eggs. YUMMY, YUMMY!

I had just one slice of bread remaining and I painstakingly toasted it to a perfect brown for the photo. I wanted to take the photo of the slice of toast in the balcony and I asked Skip to guard it against the birds while I went in to wash my hands. And this is what I saw when I came out!  

Now, Skip likes the Relish

So here’s how I feel about this Relish:

The Relish has a very strong bacon-y/pork-y flavour that continues to linger in your mouth if eaten by itself. I do not like strong or intense meat flavours and thus cannot have the Relish by itself or as a sole accompaniment to my toast/cracker. On the other hand, it tastes divine when added to eggs, sautéed veggies, salads, pasta, sandwiches and burgers as the flavour is subdued. When you get a chunk of it in your mouth, you first feel the tartness of the vinegar making your mouth water and that is when the sweet and savoury tang hits you and you feel the saltiness when you bite into the bacon bits. DO NOT eat it straight from the fridge, though it may be eaten at room temperature.

I shall definitely try out the spicy flavour as well and it is well worth a re-purchase

Besides Koshy’s bakery, the Relish is also available at the Food World in Bangalore Club and shall soon be made available at the Bangalore Ham Shop. .