About Us
The Fruity Affair
Though my background comes from a family of exceptionally gifted cooks, my passion for cooking developed later on in life after I got married. My desire to please my family’s picky palate set me on a culinary journey. From precious hand written old recipes passed on from my grandmother, mom and sisters I soon found myself trying out dishes and enjoying the process of cooking all the more. And over the years, by God’s grace, through trial and error, I have carried on perfecting this art.
My love affair with juicing and preserving began after marriage. Being a Planter, my husband would bring in an abundance of seasonal fruits, fresh from our estate by basketsfull. Even after distributing it liberally among family and friends, there was an excess which had to be put to good use. It was then that i started making fruit concentrates and preserves as a DIY hobby. I initially followed traditional recipes but later added my own stamp on them by giving them a nontraditional twist. I would take an authentic lemon and ginger recipe and add carrot to it, to give it a burst of freshness and a new dimension of flavor. I gave some of these to family and friends and got raving reviews each time. Some of them started asking me to take up special orders. It was then that my husband Jerry pushed me to take it to the next level and I decided to take the plunge. Thus “Rachel’s Orchard” was born, christened after my young chefling who is also my most honest critic.
Rachel’s Orchard is my platform to bring to the world these concentrates made with lovely, farm fresh fruits without artificial additives or colouring, making them as natural as possible.