Young beech leaves with rogue post-Easter egg
The beech hedge at the front of our house springing to life gave me an idea: Young beech leaves! I'm sure I keep reading about people using these in salads and gins, so why not give it a go? Now that there are markedly fewer cars going up and down our road, the hedge should be relatively pollution-free, too.
So I swiftly gathered some leaves for an experimental small batch of gin - based, again, on a recipe fom John Rensten's marvellous book The Edible City:
- Put leaves in a wide-necked bottle or jar and cover with gin (or vodka in a pinch)
- Leave to infuse for about three weeks
- Shake, stir or prod it every so often - make sure all the leaves are still covered
- Strain out leaves and add sugar (or sugar water)
- Optional: add a de-seeded, medium-strength chilli, cut lengthwise into strips.
Leave to age for a few months if you can bear it.
Personally, I think I'm going to give the chilli a miss, but I can imagine it adding a nice kick to proceedings. We're promised a lemony taste from the beech leaves, and having nibbled a leaf (and smelled the infusing gin), I can confirm this to be the case!
John Rensten calls this recipe "simplicity itself", and it's so true. One of the easiest gins I've ever made. Can't wait to taste the result!
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