Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Urban Homestead Series: Forager's Alchemy

I decanted my sumac tincture the other day and though I'm happy to have this wonderful medicine with it's many uses, I realised that I have a lot more tincture than I will probably go through until sumac season comes around again next year.

Since I enjoy making and drinking sumac lemonade, (or sumacade as I like to call it) and I'm experimenting with herbal liqueurs and had some simple syrup left over from making basilcello, I thought I'd try making a hard sumacade.

I poured off the amount I wanted to keep for tincture and the rest I slowly mixed with the simple syrup until I felt I had the right balance of sweet and sour. I imagine this will be sipping liqueur, or a refreshing cocktail with soda water, to enjoy in small amounts. I won't really know how the whole thing turns out until the infused alcohol and syrup mingles for a month or so, but preliminary sips leave me very hopeful that this will be a tasty combination. At the very least, it sure looks pretty.

6 comments:

Tony R. said...

It does look good...makes me want pancakes! Or maybe pull a "buddy"...syrup in coffee!

Amber said...

Ooo, nice! Now you've got me thinking about other uses for it.

I'm thinking drizzled over ice cream, as a glaze for baked goods or even roasted veggies or tofu maybe, as part of a salad dressing possibly, anywhere you might want a sweet and sour, lemony flavour. Hmmm...can't wait to experiment. I wonder how it would work as a hot toddy...

Scout said...

I discovered a recipe for sumac lemonade this summer, in an edible plant book. I made a couple of small batches during our camping trip in early September, in the mornings when our water (filtered lake water) was still cool from the crisp overnight temperatures. We didn't sweeten it, we loved it just the way it tasted after brewing. What a fantastic treat it was!

In other camping news, can you believe I forgot to pack the dried vegetables I had prepared for soup? It was a very modest attempt at dehydrating our own camp food, but I *forgot* to pack it. Doh!! We had to settle for all of the other MRE packets we brought. Still haven't tried my soup yet, but with these colder temperatures, I will soon!

Amber said...

Hey Scout, fresh sumacade from cold, filtered lake water, outside on a September morning sounds just like my idea of heaven!

Too bad about your dried veggies though. I can imagine that must've have been disappointing. But think of all the good food you now have preserved for the winter! :)

Scout said...

Thanks Amber! I should be careful not to overstate the amount of veggies I dried. Although it seemed like a *tonne* when I started, I think it probably only amounts to a few bowls of soup. However, I will relish every spoonful!!!

Amber said...

Enjoy your soup Scout! Every little bit counts.