In January 2026 I made my first fermented batch for other people. I’d tried fermenting once before, a green jalapeño and kiwi sauce in June 2025 that came out better than I remembered, but everything I’d given away up to then had been cooked, Tom’s method, start to finish. This one sat in brine for weeks instead.
The chillies came from the local market, not the garden, there was no garden yet. Fermented mango, mixed chillies, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, lime zest, honey, white miso. It went slower than anything I’d made before and tasted better for it.
Ten bottles, hand-labelled, EST. 2021 on the badge as a nod to where this actually started. Gone within weeks of giving them out. I called it Honey Monster. I had no idea at the time that it would be the last batch made without a single homegrown chilli in it.
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