10th May 2010
The Merry, Merry Month of May
This past weekend saw one of our awesome neighbourhood barbecues take place at the Germans’ house, giving us the opportunity to try making Maibowle, an herb-infused white wine concoction. Maibowle is a traditional German beverage made with sweet woodruff and white wine(s) and was apparently popular in the 70s (also the era of cheese fondues).
At first, we thought that we’d have to make an Erdbeerbowle (white wine infused with strawberries), as the sweet woodruff in the Germans’ garden didn’t fare too well over the winter. Luckily, M– came to the rescue, providing the herb from her city house garden.
K– prepped the herb by cutting it into small springs:
The next task was to assemble the sprigs into small bundles, tied with thread. Here is K–, working on that task. (T– and I also helped, once I put the camera down.)
The bundles were suspended from a cross-member (formerly known as a “wooden spoon” but renamed for its very important role in creating the Maibowle). It’s important not to submerge the cut end of the herb in the wine, as it contains a natural form of coumadin.
In no time, we had all the sweet woodruff sprigs bundled up and hanging from their cross-members:
After lightly bruising the herbs, a couple of bottles of fruity white wines were added to bowl, whereupon we discovered that the bowl was the wrong size or the wrong shape (or both!) or the thread was too short or something like that…the sweet woodruff wasn’t submerged enough in the wine for our liking.
A quick swap out of bowls remedied the situation and it was “everybody back in the pool!”:
The herbs steeped in the wine for about an hour, after which we added a bottle of sparkling wine to the bowl. After a shorter steeping time, a wee bit of sugar was stirred in and then it was time to enjoy!
And enjoy it, we did! The herbal flavour of the wine was a perfect accompaniment to the beautiful spring weather we were having. I’m inspired to try making other herbal infusions using just water or maybe even vinegar; I think when added to a carbonated beverage (tonic water? soda water? lemon-lime pop?), it could make for a fantastic summertime beverage.
And, in case anyone doubted it, we are at the forefront of cool in our habits. The very day after creating our own Maibowle, Spiegel Online ran an article on Maibowle: “Maibowle: Deutschland ist Waldmeister“. Okay, maybe their version is slightly more updated but I contend that we are still avant garde (when it comes to herb-infused beverages , if nothing else).
This past weekend saw one of our awesome neighbourhood barbecues take place at the Germans’ house, giving us the opportunity to try making Maibowle, an herb-infused white wine concoction. Maibowle is a traditional German beverage made with sweet woodruff and white wine(s) and was apparently popular in the 70s (also the era of cheese fondues).
At first, we thought that we’d have to make an Erdbeerbowle (white wine infused with strawberries), as the sweet woodruff in the Germans’ garden didn’t fare too well over the winter. Luckily, M– came to the rescue, providing the herb from her city house garden.
K– prepped the herb by cutting it into small springs:
The next task was to assemble the sprigs into small bundles, tied with thread. Here is K–, working on that task. (T– and I also helped, once I put the camera down.)
The bundles were suspended from a cross-member (formerly known as a “wooden spoon” but renamed for its very important role in creating the Maibowle). It’s important not to submerge the cut end of the herb in the wine, as it contains a natural form of coumadin.
In no time, we had all the sweet woodruff sprigs bundled up and hanging from their cross-members:
After lightly bruising the herbs, a couple of bottles of fruity white wines were added to bowl, whereupon we discovered that the bowl was the wrong size or the wrong shape (or both!) or the thread was too short or something like that…the sweet woodruff wasn’t submerged enough in the wine for our liking.
A quick swap out of bowls remedied the situation and it was “everybody back in the pool!”:
The herbs steeped in the wine for about an hour, after which we added a bottle of sparkling wine to the bowl. After a shorter steeping time, a wee bit of sugar was stirred in and then it was time to enjoy!
And enjoy it, we did! The herbal flavour of the wine was a perfect accompaniment to the beautiful spring weather we were having. I’m inspired to try making other herbal infusions using just water or maybe even vinegar; I think when added to a carbonated beverage (tonic water? soda water? lemon-lime pop?), it could make for a fantastic summertime beverage.
And, in case anyone doubted it, we are at the forefront of cool in our habits. The very day after creating our own Maibowle, Spiegel Online ran an article on Maibowle: “Maibowle: Deutschland ist Waldmeister“. Okay, maybe their version is slightly more updated but I contend that we are still avant garde (when it comes to herb-infused beverages , if nothing else).
Posted by jen under 
Food, glorious food 
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