By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Punahou School's mango chutney is chunky with fruit.
Hawaiian chiles add a touch of heat to the recipe, which calls
for both fresh and preserved ginger as well
as thinly sliced almonds.

By Request

Mango chutney from
carnival labeled 'best'

By Betty Shimabukuro
Star-Bulletin

MANY people -- many, many, many people, actually -- consider the mango chutney sold at the Punahou Carnival to be the best chutney on the planet. This chutney has so many fans that it usually sells out in a few hours, or at most by the end of the first day.

Eloise Ching was one of those who didn't get to the chutney booth soon enough this year and now wants to make it herself. "My friends say it's the best," she wrote.

It is a wonderfully chunky chutney, tart with a spicy bite that comes from just a few small red peppers.

Bonnie Judd, director of communications at Punahou, provided this recipe, plus these facts and figures about the famous Punahou chutney:

The recipe falls within the purview of the Jams and Jellies Booth and has changed over the years with the availability of mangoes and the imagination of the booth chairpersons. This year's committee made 6,000 jars of chutney, as well as jars of mango sauce, lilikoi and guava butter, and jellies of red pepper, green pepper, jabotica, Surinam cherry, guava and lilikoi.

Last year was a good year for mangoes, so there was chutney available at the school's Parent Faculty Association Christmas sale as well.

Punahou seeks donations of mangoes through the summer, when the chutney is cooked and canned. If you are loaded with mangoes, the school will send volunteers to help you pick them. Call 944-5751.

If you have no mango source, or if this recipe just looks like too much trouble for you, the carnival is held on the first Friday and Saturday in February. Mark your year 2000 calendar now.

Punahou Mango Chutney

10 pounds mangoes (green or half-ripe), peeled, sliced and cut in chunks
3/4 cups salt
5 pounds sugar
6 or 7 cups cider vinegar, depending on acidity of mangoes
1-1/2 pounds almonds, blanched and cut in thin strips
1 pound finely sliced candied lemon peel
1 pound finely sliced candied orange peel
2 large onions, chopped fine
2 pounds seedless raisins
1 pound finely sliced citron
2/3 cup green ginger, cooked and chopped fine
1 cup finely chopped preserved ginger
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
8 small Hawaiian chiles, with seeds removed, chopped fine

Sprinkle mangoes with salt and allow to stand overnight.

Boil the sugar and vinegar 5 minutes, add to the drained mango, cook until tender. Add the other ingredients and cook slowly to desired consistency, 30 minutes to an hour. Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal immediately.

Makes 15 pints.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per 2-tablespoon serving: 90 calories, 1.5 g total fat, 0.5 g. saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, greater than 150 mg sodium.*

Can you help? Anybody have any of these recipes to share? Peanut butter bread, a war-time recipe for a quick bread (no yeast) that uses no butter. Bran muffins made at the Alexander Young Hotel Bakery. They may have included pineapple, dates and nuts. Orange Creamsicle Cake, as make by the now-extinct Larry's Bakery in Waimalu. Or, perhaps someone out there knows how to reach Larry or his kin.

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