Skip to main content

Wild Foraged Vermouth, Aromatised Wines, Liquers. Including recipe for foraged vermouth

This article started life as a post about my adventures in making 'Wild Foraged Vermouth' which I needed as a link/reference to posts elsewhere. The more I started researching, the more complex it became and only by reading the following will you see why. I hope you enjoy it as much I did writing it - he says with tongue firmly placed between cheek...




Wormwood Illustration
History & Origins

The historical roots (no pun intended) of aromatised wines stretch back to ancient times, with the earliest records for fortified wines dating back to the, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties in China circa 1250-1000BC, (although 'wormwood wine' reportedly 'played a key role' in India circa 1500BC). Vermouth is the French pronunciation of, wermut, the German word for the herb, Wormwood. Fortified wines containing wormwood as a principal ingredient existed in Germany in around the 16th century.  At around the same time, in Italy, a chap called D'Alessio began to produce a similar product which he called 'wormwood wine'. By the mid 17th century that drink was being consumed in good ol' England and it went by the name 'vermouth' and that has become the common name for the drink.












Wild Foraged Vermouth
What is a Vermouth?

A Vermouth is basically an aromatised & fortified wine. It has a white wine base into which a certain and/or various herbs, roots, seeds & barks are added for flavour and balance. However, without the addition of the herb Wormwood  a vermouth isn't a vermouth, it's just an aromatised wine, apparently - and so it begins!

Aromatised Wines

 These, like vermouth, also have a white wine base into which certain or various natural herbs, roots, seeds, fruits & barks are added for flavour and balance. They are often subjected to the addition of spirits to further fortify and increase their strength and their 'keeping' properties - wines which have had spirits added to them are also known as 'fortified wines', for example, Port.
Various countries have their own versions of aromatised wines, and as such, their names differ. In Italy they have 'Amaro' (which translates as 'bitters'), in Germany they have 'Krautlikor' (which translates as 'half-bitters' ) and it's also another name for Schnapps, although Schnapps reportedly contains fruits as opposed to herbs, unless you add the Americans into the mix - they add spices to their schnapps and sometimes sugar which then moves that schnapps into the classification of 'liqueur', further complicating matters!. Oh, and, according to EU Law, aromatised wines 'must' contain an alcohol content of between 14.5% - 22%,  la de da... are you still with me?



Liqueurs or Liquors?

Seen as they've had a brief been mention already, I thought I'd delve briefly into their slightly complicated world too!
Liquers (pronounced 'lick-yures') have a distilled spirit base into which fruits, herbs, roots, nuts, flowers, spices etc... are added, along with sugar or some other sweetener. A true liqueur should contain an alcohol volume of between 15% - 30% but can be as high as 55% (need a drink yet?). In comparison, Liquor (pronounced 'licker'), though containing the same with regards to herbs, spices, fruits additions as liqueurs do, contain a much less sugar/sweetner content.
Scrump Cocktail including Wild Foraged Vermouth
So what do all these boozes have in common? 

 They can all be drunk neat as aperitifs and digestifs and added to cocktails and long drinks to help season, add balance and a healthy element - honestly! All started life as medicinal mediums to prevent, help with and cure ailments and diseases. They are great fun to create and play about with, especially when you start adding wild foraged ingredients. It's really quite liberating too, you have total control over the ingredients you collect and add. They all contain alcohol and are very effective at aiding the inebriation process.



I don't know about you but I'm now in want of a drink, cheers ;)



Recipe for making your own Wild Foraged Vermouth or Amaro: http://edible-leeds.blogspot.co.uk/p/alcoholic.html

Great article & information from Jason Irving about the 'Medicinal Roots of Cocktail Bitters: http://foragewildfood.com/2015/12/11/the-medicinal-roots-of-cocktail-bitters/

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Japanese Quince Jelly, Syrup and Sweets

Japanese Quince is one of my autumn favourites and one I make a beeline for every year. You can read more about these delightfully scented,  mouth-puckering and fabulously versatile little fruits here:  https://edible-leeds.blogspot.com/2017/11/quince-quince-glorious-quince.html   Japanese Quince Jelly   This beautifully sharp, sweet and dreamily aromatic jelly is one of the creations that go into my JQ Knickerbocker Glory, it also works well spread on to warm toast or served alongside game meats, particularly wildfowl and is great added to sauces to provide an edge of acidity, sweetness and aromatic attitude. There are many other applications for this jelly, so get busy gathering, creating and playing... 1kg Japanese Quince 750g Golden Granulated Sugar Water Wash the fruits to remove any dirt and then place them whole in a large pan. Add water to cover, (approximately 800ml) and bring to the boil, once boiling, reduce heat and simmer until all the fruits split. Po...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chicken of the Woods

Wild mushrooms have a special place in my heart. My wild food and foraging journey stemmed from an interest in them before branching out into plants and seaweeds. The 'silent hunt', as Antonio Carluccio so beautifully and aptly put it, is one of my favourite things. To find yourself at ease, wandering and treading gently, on the fringes of or deep within and beneath, the multi-layered, multi-coloured patchwork of woodland canopies, or in ancient meadows, in anticipation of the sometimes elusive, yet always magical and mysterious organisms that comprise the 5th kingdom is a pure delight. Fungi are truly fascinating, yet the great majority of the uk population have yet to discover just how awesome, intriguing, fascinating and tasty they can be. Most people think the best time of year for finding wild mushrooms is in the 'autumn' and, although there is some truth in this, it's not the whole truth. Spring, summer and winter can prove very fruitful (fung-ful) when it ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Japanese Knotweed: The Terribly Terrific Tasty Terrestrial Triffid

It really is one of those 'love, hate' relationships, depending on which side of the proverbial fence you find yourself. Personally, I love Japanese Knotweed. I love it's potential as a diverse food & drink resource, I'll delve deeper into that arena later. I also find it to be a striking and handsome plant. I've read some very interesting academic, scientific and medicinal literature, both mainstream and non, which raised many a question regarding Japanese Knotweed; how it's perceived professionally, and thus culturally, and how this determines and affects it's subsequent treatment by humans. I heartily recommend the book 'The New Wild' by Fred Pearce - a book all nature lovers, conservationists and environmentalists should consider reading. Like so many, I too was led to believe that Japanese Knotweed aka Fallopia japonica was a botanical nightmare, especially with regards to its reportedly negative impacts on our beautiful countrys...
Post a Comment
Read more