Instructions: 1. Mince the dates, apples and onions and place in a large pan.

2. Add the sultanas and stir in the sugar.

3. Add all the other ingredients and stir well, but make sure the bag of spices and the ginger are identifiable.

4. Leave for 24 hours but stir occasionally (once every 4 hours or so).

5. Remove the bag of spices and ginger.

6. Bottle and store in a coolish place.

7. Eat.

This recipe filtered down to me through a grapevine of neighbours. You will need a supply of jam-jars, jam-jar covers and a large pan to keep the ingredients in.

I sometimes use currents in place of the stoneless dates, in which case you dont need to mince them. If the mixture appears too liquid after the 24 hour standing time, it is worth draining off some of the vinegar before bottling. The beauty of this recipe is that you dont have a vast pot of strange things bubbling away on the stove for hours. A big win!

Difficulty: easy. Precision: approximate measurement OK, but dont go overboard with the vinegar.

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