THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610100576
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY FLACHSENHAAR, SPECIAL TO FLAVOR
LENGTH: 139 lines
BARBARA BRAWLEY sips Strega because she loves the taste.
And because she loves trying to solve the mystery.
What exactly is in the golden liqueur from Italy?
Brawley is determined to find out.
The military wife and mother of seven became a Strega sleuth about six years ago when she couldn't find the name brand locally. Since then she has been tinkering like a chemist at least once a year when she harvests her crop of the herbs lemon verbena and lemon balm.
``Lemon seems to be the main flavor,'' said Brawley, a master gardener who lives in Virginia Beach. ``And then there might be cinnamon, mace, cardamom. Somewhere I read that Strega is a blend of 19 herbs and spices.
``Once I put cloves in. Next I took the cloves out. I still don't have it right.''
Is she frustrated?
Absolutely not.
Having fun?
You bet.
For Brawley and her good friend Billi Parus, the pleasure of creating homemade liqueurs or cordials comes from trying to duplicate brand-name flavors. And from producing new, distinct blends along the way.
The joy also comes from putting their magnificent backyard herb gardens to use, presenting friends with glistening homemade liqueurs in beautiful bottles and delicate cordial glasses and from sharing the amazingly simple tricks of the trade with others. Brawley has been giving liqueur classes on and off for 20 years. Parus, who also lives in Virginia Beach, has taught liqueurs for three years.
Parus will teach a liqueur class at the United States Botanic Gardens in Washington, D.C., Oct. 18. She has been invited to do an herbal liqueur demonstration at the annual meeting of The Herb Society of America in Denver next June.
Last month Parus and Brawley gave the annual liqueur-making class at Norfolk's Botanical Gardens that they've been doing together since 1993. There the two women, who were instrumental in starting the Tidewater unit of the national herb society in 1991, also teach cooking with herbs.
``But our liqueur class seems to be the most popular one,'' said Parus.
No wonder.
Making liqueurs at home is as easy as making a cup of tea.
``Steep, sweeten, age - that's all you do,'' said Parus. ``The beauty of this is that you can't really make a mistake.''
Ingredients are minimal. They include flavorings such as herbs, spices, nuts, fruits and tea; an alcohol base; and a sweetener, usually a syrup made of sugar and water. Oh, yes, and patience, which is sometimes the hardest ingredient to come by. Most liqueurs require at least several weeks of steeping and aging.
There are more reasons to get in the spirit. Compared to purchasing liqueurs, especially the name brands, making your own is inexpensive. And it is elegant. A green mint or red cranberry liqueur in a decorative bottle makes a lovely holiday gift, much less labor-intensive than a gingerbread house or home-baked cookies.
Parus likes to refill a four- or six-pack of beer or wine-cooler bottles with an assortment of liqueurs, adorning each with a tag and ribbon. Brawley enjoys choosing just the right bottle from her large collection.
``People are always bringing me bottles and telling me where I can get them,'' said Brawley, who also collects liqueur glasses. ``I hunt for bottles at flea markets and antique shows and sometimes I'll buy a product just for the bottle.''
Another reason to toast liqueur-making, said Brawley, is that it is a craft that appeals to men.
It was a man, in fact, who started it all. Hippocrates is believed to have been the first person to flavor alcohol with herbs and aromatic plants back in the fifth century B.C. According to the book ``Homemade Liqueurs'' by Dona and Mel Meilach (Contemporary Books Inc., 1979), that brew was described as ``fit only for the strongest of men.''
In the Middle Ages, men tried again, with better results once sugar cane from the New World arrived.
One sweet success story was the liqueur made by the Benedictine monks at Fecamp Abbey in France. In time, the monks' original recipe, which contained 27 herbs and plants, was lost. But in the mid-19th century, a formula similar to the original was recovered and commercial production of Benedictine began.
Those who are intrigued by Benedictine's complexity might want to take on the challenge of duplicating it. But newcomers to liqueur-making will be just as impressed with the results that occur when vodka is poured over tea leaves to make tea liqueur or when any of Parus' and Brawley's other simple recipes are put to use. Stored in a cool, dark place, these liqueurs should last at least a year. MEMO: Mary Flachsenhaar is a freelance writer in Norfolk. ILLUSTRATION: COLOR PHOTOS BY VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot
Homemade cordials include, on tray, clockwise from left: orange,
tarragon, cranberry apple tea and mint liqueurs. At far left is
coffee liqueur.
ABOVE: Ingredients for making liqueurs include instant coffee and
vanilla bean, left, and loose ground tea.
RIGHT: Suspending an orange over half a jar of vodka produces a
liqueur similar to Grand Marnier.
Graphic
SUPPLY LIST
Here's what you'll need to steep-sweeten-age:
Large, wide-mouthed jars with lids for mixing, steeping and
aging. These should be glass, not plastic. Empty jars from food
products such as jellies and sauces are fine, as long as the jars
and their lids are sterilized in the dishwasher or with boiling
water.
Measuring cups and spoons
Saucepan for cooking sugar syrup
Funnel
Filtering equipment such as coffee filters (for use with funnel)
and a fine sieve.
Decorative glass bottles with corks or caps, for storing and
serving. These can be from commercially prepared liqueurs or other
alcoholic beverages or food products like syrups, but the bottles
need to be sterilized in the dishwasher or with boiling water before
they are re-used. Corks of all sizes are available at Wine & Cake
Hobbies Inc., 6527 Tidewater Drive, Norfolk (phone 857-0245).
A cool, dark place for aging. Billi Parus stashes her maturing
liqueurs in her liquor cabinet. Barbara Brawley uses the floor of a
coat closet.
Flavorings such as herbs, spices, roots, flowers, leaves, fruit,
tea.
An alcohol base. Because liqueurs derive character from the
flavorings, not the alcohol, a flavorless base like vodka is
desirable. Parus and Brawley recommend 80-proof vodka, midway
between the least and most expensive brands.
Sweetener, usually sugar syrup, which is a boiled mixture of two
parts sugar to one part water. The syrup must return to room
temperature before it is mixed with alcohol.
Glycerine, optional. This gives the liqueur a thicker or heavier
consistency. Glycerine can be purchased in the drugstore.
Food coloring, optional. The pure food colors sold for cooking
and baking will add depth to the natural color of the liqueurs. But
remember, a tiny drop goes a long way.
- Mary Flachsenhaar by CNB