CHRIS and Bridget Cumming make tracklements so beautiful that the contents of their jars are a feast to the eye before they ever reach the plate.

I like to dream of my store cupboard shelves groaning with potted fruit, vegetables, pickles, chutneys and relishes, shapes and colours glowing through the glass. If they did, they would look like Chris and Bridget's.

They are the husband and wife team behind a fledgling enterprise called The Secret Recipe Co, dreaming up drop dead gorgeous concoctions made entirely from fresh ingredients, in their Welwyn Garden City home. As yet, it is scarcely big enough to be called a cottage industry.

"It's certainly not a business yet, it's more a passionate hobby. We are only going to farmers markets at present, but we have been approached by three or four delis and if it keeps growing we may well build it up next year," said Chris.

No wonder the recipes are secret, they are so innovative. And while the pickles are pretty, the names are wacky, and displayed on eye catching labels.

A ripe red tomato, celery and onion relish rejoices in the name of Fatima's Blush, shallots with red chilli listed as "tongue-tapping, cheek-sucking" are dubbed Fire Down Below, their oriental hot stir-fry sunflower and sesame oil with ginger, chilli and spices is Crouching Tiger.

Not forgetting their best seller, Scrummy Summer Pickle - a more delicate summery mix of fresh cucumber, onions and sweet peppers. Like most of their recipes, it was inspired by climes far from our own.

"We were both born in Trinidad so grew up in an atmosphere of sunshine, with interesting food and tastes around us. Ingredients like chillis used to grow in the hedge," said Chris.

"Living here I guess we wanted to recreate some of the warmth and flavours, and it really started with Bridget's aunt in Venezuela giving us the recipe for the summer pickle.

"Everyone said to Bridget 'This is wonderful, make some more', so she did and we thought 'Let's try putting a few more ideas together and put a bit of fun back into pickle making.' "

All three of us now fell to wrangling about the difference between chutneys and relishes, but what's in a name, when the results are so good?

In their's you can clearly see the colours and shapes of the ingredients - not like the mixed up mush chutney often becomes. In their Luscious Lime Pickle, for instance, you can clearly see the individual fruit segments.

Best of all is the freshness and quality of the produce they use, much of it grown on their three allotments, including cucumbers, onions, shallots, sweet and chilli peppers, and carrots; herbs as well.

"We do not use pesticides or herbicides, but we do use a lot of seaweed and natural compost," said Bridget.

Nor do they use artificial ingredients or preservatives when they make their pickles. Interestingly, Nervous Nigel's eye wateringly hot apple chutney, made with local apples, does not incorporate vinegar. Its 10 different spices are preservative enough.

They deliberately cut down on sugar, for instance in their two marmalades - traditional and three fruit of orange, lemons and grapefruit.

The only worry of The Secret Recipe Co is the possible price of success. "We want to make sure we keep the flavour, freshness and fun, and everything hand-made. The last thing we want is a factory churning out jar after jar," said Chris.

December 14, 2001 14:30