Green tomato
A green tomato is an unripe tomato, firm and sour, used for frying, pickling, relish and ferments. It carries tomatine, which falls as the fruit ripens.
Traditional method
Australian vegetable relishes (green tomato relish)
Australian green tomato pickles and relishes vary. This partial version follows ABC Western Victoria’s 2018 pickle recipe, not Beerenberg’s commercial formula. Sources document examples from 1944 onward, not a single origin.
One Australian version
The ABC Western Victoria recipe is titled Green Tomato Pickle. It combines diced green tomatoes and onions with white vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, curry powder, celery seeds and mustard seeds. The measured quantities and method here follow that source; this is not Beerenberg’s commercial recipe.
Sources for this section
History and geography
A Queensland Agricultural Journal issue dated 1 August 1944 documents green tomato pickle and chutney recipes. Beerenberg says its present Australian Green Tomato Relish was formerly sold as Green Tomato Pickle and is based on a traditional recipe. These are dated and contemporary examples; neither establishes a first origin or a canonical national formula.
Sources for this section
Ingredients and flavour
Beerenberg’s commercial product lists green tomato, onion, gherkin, sugar, vinegar, starch, sea salt, spices, mustard seeds and garlic, with green tomato at 27 percent. The ABC home recipe uses a different list, including curry, peppercorns, celery seed and mustard seed. Its vinegar and sugar sit alongside the spice mixture; the source gives no measured heat level or tasting profile.
Sources for this section
Safety and limits
ABC’s recipe directs hot bottling into sterilised jars, but the cited sources provide no validated home-canning process, acidity target, pH limit or storage duration for this formula. That hot-fill direction is not a basis for claiming safe room-temperature storage.
For immediate use, the cooked relish can be transferred to a clean food container and refrigerated promptly at or below 40°F (4°C). FoodSafety.gov advises refrigerating perishable food within two hours of preparation, or within one hour above 90°F (32°C). These general handling limits do not establish a recipe-specific refrigerated shelf life.
Sources for this section
History
A 1 August 1944 Queensland Agricultural Journal article includes green tomato pickle and chutney recipes. Beerenberg currently sells a Green Tomato Relish that it says was previously called Green Tomato Pickle and follows a traditional recipe. These sources document examples, not the first origin or one standard formula.
Ingredients
Green tomatoesdiced
1.5 kg
Onionsdiced
0.5 kg
White vinegar
500 mL
250 g
10 g
Curry powder
50 g
Celery seeds
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
Mustard seeds
9.9 mL2 tsp as recorded
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Unvalidated room-temperature preservation
The cited home recipe gives a hot-fill jar direction but no validated canning process or evidence establishing safe room-temperature storage.
Hazard sourceFor immediate use, transfer the cooked relish to a clean food container and refrigerate promptly at or below 40°F (4°C). FoodSafety.gov advises refrigerating perishable foods within two hours, or within one hour above 90°F (32°C). No recipe-specific storage duration is established.
Control sourceThe cited home recipe does not establish a validated canning process or safe room-temperature storage. Its hot-fill jar direction is not a shelf-stable preservation method.
This version is for immediate-use refrigerated handling only; keep at or below 40°F (4°C), refrigerate within two hours of preparation (one hour above 90°F / 32°C), and do not infer a recipe-specific storage life.
- Dice the green tomatoes and onions.
- Put all the ingredients in a heavy-based pan. Cook slowly over low heat for 1 to 1½ hours, stirring occasionally, as in the ABC Western Victoria recipe.
- For immediate use, transfer the cooked relish to a clean food container and refrigerate it promptly. Keep it at or below 40°F (4°C); refrigerate within two hours of preparation, or within one hour if exposed to temperatures above 90°F (32°C). No recipe-specific refrigerated storage life is established.
Places
Australia
Documented preparation · Country evidenceThese sources document Queensland and Western Victorian recipes and an Australian commercial relish; they do not establish one precise birthplace for the condiment family.
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Sources
ABC News (ABC Western Victoria)Recipe · Geography · Method · Flavour
Green Tomato PickleThe 2018 ABC Western Victoria recipe gives 1.5 kg green tomatoes, 0.5 kg onions, white vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, curry powder, celery seeds and mustard seeds; it says to dice, cook slowly for 1 to 1.5 hours, and bottle hot into sterilised jars. It is titled pickle, not Beerenberg's commercial formula.
Cited in: One Australian version; Ingredients and flavour; Safety and limits
Beerenberg FarmCurrent use · Geography · Ingredients · History
Green Tomato RelishBeerenberg says its current Australian Green Tomato Relish was previously called Green Tomato Pickle and follows a traditional recipe using Australian fruit and vegetables. Its ingredient list includes green tomato (27%), onion, gherkin, sugar, vinegar, starch, sea salt, spices, mustard seeds and garlic; its label says refrigerate after opening. The commercial formula and storage note are not home-process instructions.
Cited in: History and geography; Ingredients and flavour; Safety and limits
Queensland Agricultural JournalHistory · Recipe · Geography
The Ever Useful TomatoThe 1 August 1944 issue includes separate green tomato pickle and chutney recipes. This establishes a dated Queensland publication, not the first origin or a single canonical Australian formula.
Cited in: History and geography
FoodSafety.govSafety
4 Steps to Food SafetyFoodSafety.gov advises refrigerating perishable foods within two hours, or within one hour when exposed to temperatures above 90°F (32°C), and keeping the refrigerator at 40°F (4°C) or below. This supports prompt refrigerated handling, not a recipe-specific storage life or shelf-stability claim.
Cited in: Safety and limits