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Pan Yan pickle memories

News that Chris Evans has had a huge response to his call on BBC Radio 2 for Pan Yan pickle to be brought back will be of interest to those who walk the Thames Path.

The pickle was invented in 1907 by the Maconochie Brothers who built a huge pickle factory on the Isle of Dogs. The name Yan Pan was the result of a competition among the workers at Maconochie’s Wharf.

Pan Yan was last made in 2002 by Branston Pickle who lost the secret recipe in a fire at its Suffolk factory.

The old Maconochie’s Wharf buildings have been demolished to make way for the Great Eastern Self-Build Housing Association and a handy stretch of the northern bank Thames Path.

Walkers on the main south bank route can see Maconochie’s Wharf across the Thames from the new riverside path in front of the Peter the Great statue at Deptford Creek.
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See pages 18 and 19.

7 replies on “Pan Yan pickle memories”

I have just unearthed a Pan Yan lid on an old WW2 airfield it is made of what looks like white glazed pottery round in shape with a line cut through the centre and Pan Yan embossed on it, can anyone give me a rough date please.

I am so glad that someone else is interested in bringing back the best sandwich relish there ever was,great taste,not too sweet not too sour.I have been asking grocers all over wether they could tell me where to buy it now but in vain,thanks Chriss Evans for jogging peoples memory it would be a real shame if this product was lost,lets hope soeone can reproduce this once great tasting item…

I have just discovered an old Pan Yan jar in my cellar (together with a couple of Branston Pickle jars). The three jars are interesting because they do not have screw fittings, just simple glass collars. I’m guessing the lids found by the other posters would have fitted on top of the jar with some kind of (sprung?) wire arrangement to keep them closed.

I also unearthed a lid last week in an old quarry in Somerset. White ceramic with Pan Yan on it. Its perfect with no chips.

My husband and I found a Pan Yan lid white ceramic with a line through the middle it was in a field in Kingsdown Kent. So interesting to read about other peoples finds. I would love to try the pickle.

I have very fond memories of staying with my grandparents during school holidays in the 1960s. On a Sunday afternoon my grandmother would prepare the evening meal usually consisting of cheese, ham and various other items, the finest of which was always without exeption the jar of Pan Yan pickle which I adored. It had a lovely flavour and came in its own very destinctly shaped jar which was almost good enough to be considered a work of art in its own right. Pan Yan is no longer with us and its passing is a great and tragic loss to us all. Having read the extensive reviews online about Pan Yan I am at least pleased to see that so many of us, frequently at an early age were so positively influenced by this simple but superb household product,

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