Tickling taste buds with chilli and garlic oil from Pollyanna's Kitchen to yours

Pollyanna Hutchison’s kitchen is her shrine, so it isn’t surprising that when she launched her business in 2017 that it would feature in the name of the business.
ChillishChillish
Chillish

Based in West Chiltington Pollyanna’s Kitchen has three products under its apron strings - Chillish (a chilli oil), Garlish (a garlic oil) and All the Gubbins.

“I always have loads of concoctions around my house, but I love chilli,” she explains.

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“Growing up we would have chilli with everything and I remember going to Hong Kong aged eight and every meal they would bring out this chilli oil with bits in.

PollyannaPollyanna
Pollyanna

“As I grew up I realised that you couldn’t really buy it like this, it was either a really tasteless chilli oil or something like Tabasco which would blow your head off.

“Something clicked, people would come to my house and have my Chillish and loved it, so I decided that if people wanted it I could do it.”

Chillish is oil on the top with a layer of ‘gooey pulp’ beneath and it is this that All the Gubbins consists of.

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People were telling me that they loved Chillish and would have it on cheese and crackers but it got me thinking about the consistency,” she says. “All the Gubbins you can put on a plate and it doesn’t just slide off.”

ChillishChillish
Chillish

From a young age Pollyanna’s passion was cooking and food, but she felt it wasn’t the career for her.

“The only job I could think of relating to food was being a chef,” she smiles, “and I really didn’t’ want to do that, I couldn’t handle all the shouting.”

After working in financial PR and as a presenter for Canderel she took over a beauty business in London.

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“It was pretty clear that it wasn’t my passion but I wanted something to get my teeth into.

GarlishGarlish
Garlish

“I found it really stressful and would come home crying and end up in the kitchen cooking up a storm.

“Cooking became a therapy for me helped me get back in touch with reality.”

Pollyanna launched her business in August 2017 at the Chilli Festival with Chillish.

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“I applied and thought ‘why not?’, it just snowballed from there really and grew and grew.”

For Easter Pollyanna is releasing a new condiment - All the Crush which goes perfectly with lamb.

“It has a seriously punchy garlic taste. It has caramelised shallots, lots and lots of garlic, and complimentary spices.

“Garlic is my second favourite thing and the reason why I made Garlish as I had something similar I would use at home on my pizzas.”

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She chose the name Pollyanna’s Kitchen because of her passion for the space but she felt it was important to have her name in there.

“When my father died I thought I need to do something for me, something I am passionate about so I decided to use my name.

“I wanted it to be authentic, but I also felt that if my name was on the door I had to do it, I had started in the past then hid away but I decided I had to do it.”

Pollyanna is taking the summer off, to spend time with her two sons, a newborn and a four year old, but is already thinking of concoctions for the end of the year.

“It will involve Chillish but I’m not sure how yet.”

I for one can’t wait to see what Pollyanna does next.

For more information on Pollyanna’s Kitchen, visit pollyannaskitchen.co.uk

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