• Tweet
• Sharebar

• Tweet

When I started my journey into preserving I thought I was learning how to make neat things that would feed me later or make neat gifts.  I didn`t expect that there would be sustained learning as I progressed from hobby to obsession – after all making jam involves fruit, sugar, some acid and following a precise recipe.

I have found that there is so much more learning than I ever expected and that only part of that relates to technique and recipe.  I have learned more about culture, tradition, history, farming and about people from all around the world who are the `rock stars`of the jarheads (all terminology is made up ).

Pam Corbin and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are akin to the indie-rockstars of their scene.  They are world-famous to a small amount of diehard followers and somewhat unknown to the rest of the world.  They started a restaurant named River Cottage that grew to include a local grocery store, farm, school, publishing arm and more.  They are based on of the UK though you can attend several of their courses online.  Their book, Preserves, is small but mighty and filled with amazing recipes (a warning to our International friends – all measurements are in metric).

I am also a sucker for scarcity.  When I am told that something is rare or limited, my spidey sense fails me and I suddenly am much more interested in that thing.  Preserving local ingredients feeds this indulgence.  Making a preserve with an ingredient which is available for only a few days every year is a thrill to me.  Knowing that a business trip has taken me out-of-town and I`ll miss an opportunity for an entire year is a bit heart-breaking.

With all that perspective aside, let us introduce the recipe we chose from the River Cottage cookbook on preserves: Beech Tree Noyau.  It`s a stretch to call this preserving but I get to make the rules here so infusion counts as preserving the spring flavors for later in the year.  If you`ve made tea before you should find this an easy recipe to make (we called this a difficult level of `2` due to finding Beech leaves).

According to the book, this was originally based on a French technique for infusing gin with bitter almonds or peach stones.  I`m going to have to do some more research on that since we preserve 20-30 liters of peaches per year and have a lot of peach stones that have only been touched by a knife.

The core of this recipe is young and tender beech tree leaves.  They are still a few weeks away but if you wait too long you will end up with a bitter cocktail that may be less than exciting.  Here`s the idea:

• Nearly fill a container (they claim 90%) with spring beech leaves.  Cover with gin taking care not to leave exposed foliage as it will turn brown with oxidation (that will risk changing the color of your gin in a direction you don`t want it to go).  Leave to steep for 7-10 days and expect a change in color to the gin (a golden-brown).  Strain through a microfilter or cheesecloth strainer to remove solids.
• Dissolve 300 grams of sugar with 250 ml (1 cup) of water.  You are essentially making a simple syrup.  Allow this to cool completely before adding to the gin – they also recommend adding a couple of caps of brandy at this time.
• Place a few fresh beach leaves in hot, sterilized mason jars, add the Noyau and seal via hot water bath.  I plan on heating the gin syrup (right to the boiling point) before adding to the jars to avoid thermal shock and furthering the preserving process.  You`re doing this to remove air from the mixture and processing for 15 minutes should be all you need (and more) to retain this flavor for up to 2 years.  It may darken with time.

We wrote about infusing vodka with pears and apples here and followed up with an article on what to do if your infusion gets too bitter.  Bears also like beech trees.

We welcome any questions or tips and would love to hear yours!

Well that`s all for today`s post in our Preserving Spring series.  We are continuing to write one per day as a follow-up to the article in Edible Toronto.  We`re continuing to do one-a-day until complete and you can see the entire series by clicking here.