25 June 2010

honey ginger syrup



I had everything I needed to make this honey ginger syrup

The spices were in stock thanks to all the vin chaud and spiced cider I made during the colder months. I didn't think I would be seeing much of them until autumn again, but here is an excellent opportunity to use them.

The honey is from the mountain commune of Chuyer. I bought it at the Sunday market by the Saône a few weeks ago. I wanted something to put on my bread or in my tea, and I asked the gentleman at the honey booth (who spoke beautiful English and didn't mind my absolutely horrible French) for a recommendation. He was most helpful and very kind. The honey I bought is light and has almost no bitter aftertaste.


I did, of course, make this syrup with the intention of mixing it with sparkling water to make ginger ale. I like my ginger ale spicy and wanted to add some red pepper like Chika did, but I decided against the idea because I want my son to enjoy our home-made ginger ale as well.

During the last two days, I took the jar out of the fridge a few times to stir the content around a bit. It doesn't smell all that ginger-y and I've been tempted to add more ginger in it. But I did put a good-size knob worth of ginger slices in it, so I'll see how this batch tastes when it's done "brewing" (hopefully by tomorrow). If it's too weak, we can always add ginger slices in the glass, right?



Now my question is going to sound really snobby: Will it be Perrier, San Pellegrino, or Badoit?  I have all three brands in the fridge, ready for our degustation.

The weather forecast is most positive for the weekend, and I think picnic with some home-made ginger ale sounds just about perfect. We just have to decide which brand bottle of bubbly water to bring with us, that's all.





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