Sunday, July 25, 2010

Lemon Cordial

My grandmother used to give us mildly sweet drinks. She served lemon barley and other cordials in thin little glasses with frosted patterns and gilt lips. I would empty my glass in about two seconds flat, then sit there politely as she twittered and fussed, running my fingers over the slightly raised frosting.

A few weeks ago, at the morning tea after her funeral, the crematorium happened to serve lemon barley along with the tea and coffee and I was taken right back.

Now I'm home again, I'll make my own. My neighbour's tree is burgeoning with lemons, and this cordial is easy to make. Even better, it's chemical-free, very refreshing, and keeps in the fridge for weeks.

Lemon Cordial

- about 15 lemons
- 350 g caster sugar

Squeeze the lemons and pour the juice into a saucepan. Strain it if you want, but I leave the pulp; I like a little texture.

Add the caster sugar, and heat until simmering. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Simmer gently for 5 minutes, then pour into clean glass bottles.

Leave to cool, and refrigerate.

To serve, pour cordial into a glass, then top up with tap water or plain mineral water. One part cordial to four parts water tastes about right.

(Local: lemons. Not local: sugar.)

No comments:

Post a Comment