Making a Shrubbery
In the garden shrubs are generally considered the understated backdrop of the landscape – mini trees that provide the green and occasionally have flowers or fragrance but for the most part aren’t even noticed.
In the kitchen shrubs are something else. They are so amazing that once you make one you wonder why you’ve never done it before. I am about to embark on a journey to create a shrubbery starting with the freshest summer produce I can get my hands on.
Basically, a shrub is an old 1700’s thing they did to preserve fruit, but what they ended up with is a delightful fruit syrup that is now becoming popular again. It should never have fallen out of favour in my opinion because it is simply too delish!
It is super easy to make. Just take some fresh fruit and mush it all up, then add the same amount of vinegar and the same amount of sugar and mix together. Leave it until the sugar dissolves – overnight is a good idea. The strain the fruit, but don’t waste that bit, it’s great on ice cream or in smoothies. Pour the juice into a sterile bottle and use as a syrup for still or fizzy water or in your favourite cocktail!
The vinegar in the shrub gives is a zing that complements the fruit, and the sweetness of the sugar softens the acid blow of the vinegar, so it doesn’t feel like you are sucking on lemons. It makes a refined drink, especially if you don’t want to drink alcohol, but don’t want the usual sweet and sickly offerings. It makes a grown-up tipple, and you don’t need much to elevate a glass of soda water.
The cool thing with this recipe is you can mix it up for a different outcome. Choose a vinegar to complement the fruit. A red wine vinegar with strawberries or apple cider vinegar with apples. A brown sugar with apricots or honey with pears. Or mix your fruits. The possibilities are exciting and I’m going to see just how many I can try.
Come again soon – I’m always on the lookout for fun things to do with the things that come from the garden.
Sarah the Gardener : o)
Sarah, I am always learning from you. That looks delicious, and as you say, not a difficult thing to make. Your basket of strawberries has me salivating. We’re still six months away from berry season here.
It has to be the easiest recipe for a refreshing drink, that tastes great too. Perfect for hot days, which I’m sure won’t be too far away for you. : o)
Such old technology is promoted as something new when it regains popularity. Vinegars are doing the same. Did you write about switchel a while back? Oddly, maple products have not regained popularity yet. Is maple grown for sugar there, or to the south (like north in the Southern Hemisphere)?
I do love delving back into the old ways of doing things. Necessity is the mother of invention and often times what they came up with was actually really good.
Great memory – It was a couple of years ago I made switchel, but I know it as haymakers punch. It was a lovely refreshing drink, but shrubs are even easier to make – and right now I’m all about easy!
Maple syrup isn’t anything that is done here as it doesn’t really get cold enough. : o)
Maple sugar was also popularized out of necessity. At a time when sugar was becoming more useful, particularly as a preservative for canning, maple sugar was an attempt to decrease reliance on cane sugar from Cuba.
Very interesting. : o)