flavour.ie

Thanks to our never ending summer there is still loads of rhubarb knocking about, and this is probably one of the nicest ways to partake in it. This cocktail recipe was inspired by the Rhubarb Martini that my friend and all-round awesome chef, Caitlin Ruth, makes as Deasy’s Restaurant in the tiny village of Ring just outside of Clonakilty.

I would never profess to be as much a master at the art of cocktail making as she is, but I think that this is pretty damn good go! I’m using Gin as my martini base, but of course you could just as well swap this out for the classic vodka and vermouth combo. The other twist here is that I am using juice from raw rhubarb here so no cooking involved!

Ingredients (makes min 4 cocktails):

Liquid from 1 bunch of rhubarb, trimmed, chopped, pulped and strained
Per person: 50ml of Beara Ocean Gin
Juice of 4 sweet oranges (Jaffa/Blood)
1 tbsp Sugar syrup / Agave syrup
Vanilla Dusting Sugar

Method:

Into a blitzer of some kind (smoothie maker, processor etc), add the chopped rhubarb and process until the rhubarb is completely pulped. You may need to add a dash of water to help this process along.
Arrange some muslin/clean tea towel over a bowl or jug and spoon out the rhubarb pulp into the cloth.
Gather up the ends of the cloth and pull tightly into a ball. Begin squeezing the juice out from the pulp into the bowl/jug. Get all the juice out, this might take a few minutes to do properly.
Once all the juice has been gathered, decant into a large mason jar or a cocktail shaker. Add in the gin, orange juice and sugar syrup or agave and add plenty of ice.
Prepare your cocktail glasses by running the empty orange segments around the top of the glass and then dusting with the icing sugar. Do this by placing some of the sugar onto a plate and dipping the glass rim into it. The orange juice will help it to stick to the rim.
Shake the cocktail mix vigorously and then strain into the prepared glasses.
Garnish with a small slice of orange and ENJOY!

I’m putting it out there…

As much as I love and adore Elderflower, I think it’s time it took a break and laid the way clear for Meadowsweet instead! (stand back and awaits collective intake of breath…)

I walk the laneways and boreens around the village where Flavour.ie is headquartered through all kinds of weather and all the seasons, year after year. I am always on high alert – noticing things, the slight annual variations on how, and what, is doing well or not so well. 2016 was probably the year of Elderflower. I had never seen so much of it flowering everywhere and with such huge flower heads; hedgerows and ditches pungent with their heady scent. Suddenly, everyone was making elderflower cordial and tonic water, continuing its steady rise to famedom, was beginning to be infused with it.

I’m not the kind of person who buys into fads and fashions. As soon as anything starts to look like a fad, I instantly get in a huff and march off in pursuit of something new. This is what happened with the Year of the Elderflower, 2016 AD. By 2017, everyone was on the bandwagon at which point I alighted to find my new thing.

At about the same time that Elderflowers were making their comeback, I had noticed a weedier version of it growing in the hedgerows. The stronger and more prevalent the flower became, the more intense its aroma as I walked by it – like the sweetest honey. My instinct told me that this plant that I had walked past and ignored for the last few years in pursuit of Elderflower was Meadowsweet. Cross referencing my books on wild food and hedgewitchery told me my instinct was correct. It also told me that Meadowsweet got its name from the old English name “Meade Sweet” because it was used to sweeten Meade (n.b the next craft spirit to come our way – trust me!)

My friend and allay in all things wild, April Danann, informed me that this honey-sweet smelling, weedy looking plant is up there as one of the most medicinal plants because you can use every part of it: the flower, the leaves, the stem and the root. If Elderflower is the X-Factor winner, Meadowsweet is the more talented, struggling artist. And I do love an underdog.

This year, I haven’t done this miraculous plant justice, as the only thing I could think to make with it was a cordial. I make cordial once a year, and it is usually Elderflower, but in a fit of fevered rebellion (well, maybe not fevered) I decided to ditch it in favour of my new fascination with Meadowsweet. “Surely,” I thought to myself “I just make this in the exact same way?” And I did.

I use the Elderflower cordial recipe from Darina Allen’s beautiful book “Forgotten Skills of Cooking” (a masterpiece of a book). The only thing I changed was that I added 14 Meadowsweet flower heads to the 10 Elderflower heads in the recipe, purely going by the fact that the flower heads are smaller and more delicate so in order to get a sufficient flavour from them I would need more.

Once the cordial is made of course there are endless uses for it: flavouring ice creams, desserts – panna cotta in particular (my favourite dessert!), and, of course, cocktails!

I decided to pair my Meadowsweet cordial with Dingle Gin, Blueberries and Mint for a surprisingly refreshing yet luxuriously delicious simple cocktail.

If you are quick, the last few Meadowsweet flowers are still in bloom. Harvest them, and see what inspires you. Else crack open the gin – either is good!

Ingredients (for 1 cocktail, served in a Champagne flute):

10ml of homemade Meadowsweet cordial
35ml measure of Dingle Gin
Blueberries / Wild Bilberries / Hedgerow Blackberries (any of these is good!)
Mint sprigs
Top up with any of the following: Fizzy water / Plain tonic water / Prosecco (any fizzy as long as it isn’t too dry, so I’d stay away from Champagne, it’s all about the Meadowsweet so don’t mask it with a dry fizz).

Method:

Pour in the Meadowsweet cordial, top with the measure of gin.
Add in your berries.
Fill to the top with your chosen fizz.
Garnish with fresh mint sprig.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Rhubarb Ocean Gin Martini

Rhubarb Ocean Gin Martini

Meadowsweet Gin Fizz

Kate Ryan