Hats off

AMELIA BALL OF MRS H.S. BALL’S CHUTNEY

All across the world, millions of South Africans are digging into home-made curries or bobotie accompanied by a generous dollop of a perennial favourite… Mrs H.S. Ball’s Chutney.

But what is the story behind this beloved brand? Well, it all started in 1852, when the SS Quanza was shipwrecked off the coast of East London en route to Australia. A Canadian couple, Henry Adkins and his wife, Sarah, were lucky to escape with not only their lives, but also the blueprint for what was to become one of South Africa’s most loved and iconic condiments.

The pair settled in Fort Jackson near King William’s Town, where Amelia (who would later become known as Mrs Ball) was born in 1865. Chutney (derived from the Hindi word chatni) was all the rage in Victorian England, and Amelia’s mother began making it on a small scale from a recipe she had obtained from the ship’s Indian cook. Later, Amelia and her sister Florence began making what they dubbed Adkins Chutney, and it soon became a hit among the Eastern Cape locals.

Amelia then married Herbert Saddleton Ball, who worked as a goods superintendent in Cape Town for the South African Railways. Due to the nature of Herbert’s profession, he and Amelia moved around a lot and she continued making her ever-popular chutney.

After moving to Fish Hoek in the 1930s, they were racking their brains for ideas to stretch Herbert’s pension, and that’s when Amelia came up with an inspired plan: to sell chutney on a commercial scale. Starting small, they cooked the chutney in large tins on a row of Primus stoves in the garage.

As was the custom with married couples in those days, Mrs H.S. Ball’s Chutney