Shrub

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Shrub is the traditional name for a vinegar-acidified fruit syrup or soft drink . Usually shrub consisted of the following three ingredients: fruits, vinegar, sugar.

Shrub is an old Arabic word and means "drink". It is related to “sharba”, the Arabic word for “syrup”. In cookbooks of the 19th century, different manufacturing methods are described. To make shrub, fruits, typically raspberries, were pickled in vinegar for a longer period of time. Then the fruits were strained and sugar was added to the fruit vinegar. The syrup was then drunk diluted with water.

In Great Britain, shrub originally referred to a strongly alcoholic drink made from the juice of citrus fruits, sugar and spirits. The drink came from Great Britain to its former colonies and thus also to the USA. Today, various recipes for shrub can be found in 19th century cookbooks. For example, Lydia Maria used Childthe word shrub in her cookbook "American Frugal Housewife" (1832) for her non-alcoholic raspberry vinegar drink. The abstinence movement made raspberry syrub and lemonade the most famous fruit drinks of the 19th century in the USA. Shrub was now drunk as an alternative to beer and spirits. Mixed with water, it was particularly popular on hot summer days. Due to the manufacturing process and the use of vinegar, fruits could be preserved very well long after harvest without refrigeration. In Germany, too, in the 1950s, fruits left over from the harvest were pickled in vinegar and later drunk as lemonade together with sugar. The invention of the refrigerator , the advent of artificial flavors, and the end of the abstinence movement made Shrub almost completely forgotten.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Sandor Ellix Katz, Michael Pollan: The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World . Chelsea Green Publishing, Hartford 2012, ISBN 978-1-60358-286-5 , pp. 177 .
  2. ^ A b Robert Simonson: Make Mine a Vinegar Solution. In: York Times. October 12, 2011, accessed January 22, 2016 .
  3. ^ Lydia Maria Francis Child: The American Frugal Housewife: Dedicated to Those Who Are Not Ashamed of Economy . 27th edition. SS & W. Wood, 1841, p. 82 .
  4. ^ Culinary Historians of Canada .: Receipe from the historic kitchen - Strawberry and Raspberry Shrub. (PDF) Website of the Culinary Historians of Canada., June 2001, accessed on January 22, 2016 (English).
  5. ↑ a b Michael Dietsch: Cocktail 101: How to Make Shrub Syrups. Serious Eats, June 23, 2011, accessed February 26, 2016 .