The Spice Shelf is the creation of Meher Salman, who began teaching the art
of Indian cookery in the Sussex area some 20 years ago. She developed the company’s
range of quality chutneys and pickles after trying without success to find fresh,
home made Eastern-influenced condiments that were authentic in taste but also
versatile enough to use with Western dishes. Meher has created her exciting range
of flavours using traditional family recipes handed down through the generations.
Since its launch in 2002 The Spice Shelf has won 13
prestigious awards at the “Oscars of the food world”, the Great
Taste Awards. In 2003 the company won a Silver Award for the Lemon Pickle,
and three Bronze awards for the Plum, Tomato and Apple Chutneys from the Guild
of Fine Food Retailers. In 2004, we won a Gold Great Taste Award for the Mango
Chutney, Silver for the Tomato Chutney and Bronze for the Apple Chutney and in
2005 we won Gold for our Aubergine and Lemon Pickles and a
Silver for our Apple Chutney.
In May 2006 the company was praised by one of the country's top
chefs, Marco Pierre White, when he judged The Spice Shelf's range of
condiments as the 'best product' at the first ever Royal Windsor Food and
Drink Festival
All the ingredients for our products are sourced from the local Sussex area
and each chutney or pickle is hand-made in small batches rather than mass-produced.
The unique taste of our culinary creations is achieved by using only the choicest
ingredients – we use whole spices that have a higher concentration of oils.
For our special spice paste we use freshly ground spices which are fried in hot
oil to release their aromatic flavours. Fresh garlic and ginger are used rather
than the powdered variety. All of our chutneys and pickles are strictly vegetarian
and do not contain any preservatives, artificial additives or colourings.
The combination of carefully-sourced and fresh ingredients, small-scale production
and careful attention to detail gives The Spice Shelf’s chutneys and pickles
their unique exotic, authentic taste.
Very
nice indeed - great vibrant flavours. Excellent to have with a curry or cured
meats. 
