What do you do when you are 9 months pregnant, captive of your own ever-expanding girth, are unable to see your toes and waddle like a duck, or in my case resemble an elephant swaying from side to side – gracefully I might add?
You try to be a good farmer’s wife, or in my case impersonate one – especially since Gabor is out all day busy working on pruning the grapes, weeding the weeds and doing god knows what else in his valiant efforts to tame the fertile SargaHaz lands.
So, I’ve re-acquainted myself with old hobbies, embroidering baby clothes for KoBe – whenever the kiddo does decide to arrive (supposed to be a 4th of July baby), baking up a storm and the best and easiest of them all – making bodza syrup.
Bodza (Elderberry in english) is the one flower that grows wild on our land. And we have been able to successfully pluck 20 odd blooms of – the only “harvest” so far. Orsi - my extremely talented and creative sister-in-law shared her Bodza Syrup recipe (I sampled this drink at her place one parched summers’ day last year) and I’ve gone stir crazy ever since. The first batch is in the making, and if it turns out well, and there are blooms left to boot, I shall be sure to make some more and save it for all you guinea pigs that plan on visiting us in the near or distant future for that matter.
Thought I’d share the recipe too. Even though I have yet to sample the spoils. So, if you have Elderberry growing around your neighbourhood, all you need is:
- 20 bodza clusters - with the yellow pollen visible i.e. in full bloom
- 1kg sugar (or less if you like)
- 1lt water
- 10gm citric acid tablets
- 2 medium-sized lemons sliced circular
Combine water, sugar and citric acid in a crock pot (5lt pot) and heat on a gentle flame till the sugar and citric acid has dissolved. Cool till only slightly warm.
While the above is cooling, have a look at your bodza blooms and check for bugs – yes these incredibly fragrant flowers tend to have a few bugs crawling in and around them – but hey, we are “doing rustic” so it’s all good!
Once cooled, add the bodza blossoms as well as the lemony bits that you have sliced. Stir well. Cover. And keep stirring a few times a day for the next five days. Then sieve the syrup, pour into bottles et voila! Your bodza syrup is ready.
To serve: A bit of syrup added to cold water on a hot summery day. Or a winter’s day when you want to feel like its summer. Anytime of the year in fact! Who are we to discriminate! It’s always refreshing and always good.
Ro’s Variation: Ok so I added some slices of (read a hell of a lot of slices of) ginger. To give it that spicy Indian zing. And the next time around, I think I will add some fresh mint as well. Just to give it an extra kick. So then it will be some mad crazy fusion bodza syrup wannabe.
Kampai!
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