ELDERFLOWER SHRUB
There is magic in Elderflower and its ritualistic harvest. Baked in heat, covered in sticky Spring humidity and residual elderflower pollen, striking out in pursuit of the next groaning bush. The citrus laced floral perfume of elderflower and its cordial is held as loftily as I can reach in my heart, part nostalgia for childhood, part outright love for a drop over chilli vodka, ice and soda (this years greatest revelation).
When we observe the land as the weeks and months unfold, paying heed to what’s in bloom and blossom, what has gone to seed or calls to be pickled or preserved, I believe we are presented with not only the tools to flourish and prosper nutritionally but also to find flavour at its finest, ripest and most forthright.
Inspired by my sister’s perilous and very successful experiments with Elderflower champagne production, I thought Id make something other than cordial this year. I wanted something more savoury than champagne, effervescent and quenching, something to gulp down when you remember you need to drink water that might lead you to actively seek out water next time instead of waiting till your head starts a dehydrated turn towards a tap.
Anyway I settled on an elderflower shrub, dreaming of great pitchers of hydration, ice reaching down to the base of the jug, glugging effervescent water laced with the scent of elderflower and the nutritional pin up that is cider vinegar.
A shrub is really just fruit that has been macerated in sugar and vinegar, the fruit yields its flavour and juices, mixes with the vinegar and sugar and once strained and left for between a week to 6 months, creates a sort of juicy, tangy cordial. Enjoyed neat (especially added to cocktails) or topped up with lots of fizzy water it makes one of the most thirst quenching drinks out there. There are many many different variants on this process, some involving heat and others not but for the elderflower shrub I treated it much like making a basic cordial tho without the citric acid and less sugar.
ELDI SHRUB
300g sugar
200g dry weight elderflower heads
240 cider vinegar
700ml boiling water
2 lemons
Bring the water to boil, add the lemon zest and sugar and stir till dissolved
Remove from the heat and add the rinsed gently dried elderflower heads so they are submerged
Leave to sit for 12-24 hours then sieve the mixture into a glass jar
Add the vinegar and leave for up to 6 months for the flavours to all settle together
To make a glass of eldi shrub mix - ¼ cup of shrub and ¾ fizzy water, slice of lemon, loads of ice and Ohhhhhh boy. Worth mentioning that it makes a damn fine martin if you treat the shrub in the same way as you would the brine in a dirty martini.
