The Branston name behind the jar
Branston is best known for Branston Pickle, made with diced vegetables such as swede, carrots, onions and cauliflower in a sauce of vinegar, tomato, apple and spices, giving it that sweet, sharp, chutney-like character Britain seems to have quietly built lunches around. It is closely linked with the ploughman’s lunch and the cheese and pickle sandwich, two institutions that prove a meal can be both plain and oddly perfect. Branston is also often cited as the most familiar brand in that cheese-and-pickle corner of British life. This piccalilli belongs to that wider Branston pickle family rather than having a separate, clearly documented origin story of its own.
From Branston village to British cupboards
The Branston story begins with the original Branston Pickle, first produced in 1922 by Crosse and Blackwell at a factory in the Staffordshire village of Branston, near Burton upon Trent. The recipe is usually attributed to Mrs Caroline Graham and her daughters Evelyn and Ermentrude, though, as with many old food stories, the neat version probably leaves out a bit of kitchen-table muddle. The village gave the brand its name, even though production did not stay there for long. By 1925, the Branston factory had proved uneconomical and production moved to Crosse and Blackwell’s E. Lazenby and Sons site in Bermondsey, London.
A pickle with borrowed habits
Branston Pickle’s character is often linked to Indian pickles and chutneys encountered by Anglo-Indians during the British Raj, then brought back and adapted to British tastes. That does not make every Branston product Indian in origin, and it would be a stretch to say so. But it does help explain why British pickle shelves are such a lively mixture of vinegar, spice, sweetness and chopped vegetables. Piccalilli fits comfortably into that world: sharper, yellower, mustardier, and very much at home beside a slab of mature cheddar. It is the sort of jar that makes a cold lunch look as if someone has made an effort, even when they plainly have not.
The modern Branston family
The ownership story is a bit of a relay race, as British grocery history often is. Crosse and Blackwell, the company behind the original pickle, had roots in London condiments going back to 1830, when Edmund Crosse and Thomas Blackwell bought an existing business. Nestlé later acquired Crosse and Blackwell in 1960. In 2004, the Branston pickle business was sold to Premier Foods, with production moving to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. In 2012, the Branston brand was sold to Mizkan Group, which continues to make Branston products at Bury St Edmunds. The brand has also grown beyond the original pickle into products including baked beans, sauces, mayonnaise, salad cream and piccalilli.
Why it still travels well
For British shoppers in Canada, Branston Small Chunk Piccalilli is one of those jars that does a very specific job. It belongs with cheese, ham, pork pie, sausage rolls, leftover roast meat and the sort of lunch assembled from fridge archaeology. It is also the kind of thing people remember from grandparents’ cupboards, Boxing Day tables, corner-shop sandwiches and pub plates where lettuce appeared mainly for decoration. You do not need a grand occasion for it. You need bread, cheese, perhaps a packet of crisps, and the firm belief that vinegar improves morale. Quietly, from The Great British Shop, it finds its way back to the table.
