Sunday Read: On Shrubs

An extra, shorter read for your inbox

I know a Sunday newsletter is unexpected, but recently I’ve been thinking that I’d like to move towards writing weekly, so I’m hoping to share a few shorter bonus posts in the weeks that I otherwise wouldn’t post anything.

I recently learnt of a second meaning to the word shrub. Of course, most of the time a shrub is still a small, potentially underwhelming plant in a garden. But it is also, I’ve learnt, a tart, fruit-based cordial. I had heard of them before in Kate Young’s book, but my interest was piqued when Xanthe Ross, one of my favourite chefs on the internet, made a cherry shrub for one of her London supper clubs.

Shrubs are a traditional way of preserving fruits, a low sugar alternative to fizzy drinks and are also very easy to make! A cold press shrub particularly is a bit of a set and forget activity as you leave the fruit to sit for a few days. Fermented is not the right word, I don’t think, because it doesn’t develop a fizz like a kombucha would, but you do leave the fruit and sugar to steep and macerate to create the syrup base.

The essential recipe is a 1:1:1 ratio of fruit, vinegar and sugar. So, for example, 500g fruit, 500g sugar and 500ml vinegar.

For my first shrub, I used nectarines and plums because they were plentiful and at the end of their season. This article here was my guide and they have some great suggestions for flavour combinations. The essential idea is that you can be very flexible with all three ingredients; it could be white, golden or brown sugar, red or white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar etc. and any fruit you can imagine.

I mixed my chopped nectarines and plums with white sugar in a jar and left it on my kitchen shelf for two days. Over that time a syrup formed as the sugar drew the liquid out of the fruit. Then I strained out the fruit (making sure to keep the liquid) and mixed white wine vinegar in with the syrup. I actually only added half as much vinegar as suggested in the end, so go slowly and add to taste, I think.

This is the process for a cold press shrub which is faster and feels more homely, I guess, but there are also hot press shrubs (that don’t work as well with fruits like melon).

After you mix in the vinegar, your shrub is ready to drink! Ours came out in a beautiful pink colour and has kept well in the fridge for a few weeks now. It is so refreshing with sparkling water or in a cocktail. I’m looking forward to trying different seasonal flavours as we move into autumn and winter.

Happy Sunday! x