spotlight on: shrubs

 

SPOTLIGHT ON: SHRUBS

I.                    Etymology

a.       Shrub comes from the Arabic word “sharaba” which means “to drink.”

b.      Two definitions: a fruit cordial or a fruit syrup made with vinegar.

II.                  Shrub Cordial

a.       English version of a shrub

b.      Any liquor can form the base, however, rums are most commonly used.

c.       Developed in the 1600’s in England as medicine used to revitalize the heart, body, and soul.

                                                               i.      Due to its medicinal nature, shrubs were meant to store over long periods of time. Because of this shrubs are pretty high in sugar and have lots of concentrated fruit flavor.

d.      Shrubs came about because of the high rate of smuggling in England. During the 1600’s England imposed a very high tariff on imported luxury goods, which meant the price of booze was greatly inflated.

                                                               i.      Smugglers would purposefully sink barrels of alcohol off the coast of England and retrieve them when the coast was clear. As a result, many barrels of booze became spoiled/tainted with sea water. After all that work, the barrels of alcohol would not simply be thrown out.  Fruit was added to the alcohol to mask the taste of spoiled or briny smuggled goods.

e.      Fun fact: Ben Franklin had a recipe for an orange shrub.

III.                Shrub Syrup

a.       American version of a shrub

b.      Also known as drinking vinegar. It is a fruit syrup preserved with vinegar.

c.       Drinking vinegar dates back to the Ancient Babylonians. They added date vinegar to water to make it safe to drink. 

                                                               i.      Colonial-era sailors carried shrubs loaded with vitamin c to prevent scurvy.

d.      Shrubs were very common in the early colonial era in America.

                                                               i.      Fruit was abundant during brief periods throughout the year, colonists had to preserve this fruit when they had it.

                                                             ii.      Vinegar was used as an alternative to citrus juice to preserve fruit because citrus was not widely available and it was very expensive.