He is a gardener, he is an artist and these two aspects of his personality are visible at Jardin A Fleur d’Eau in Cherveux, but Emmanuel Grosbois has other talents: here is his recipe for elderberry champagne today.
As a preamble, choose the elderberry well: cut flowers on the “wooden” elderberry, which is a shrub but not the yieble elderberry (or hièble or yèble) which is toxic and which you will encounter near ditches: a plant with green stems to avoid.
It is in May-June that you have to pick about ten elderflower umbels:
- for 5 liters of beverage, you need 10 umbels from which we remove the stems, which are too bitter.
Hang them upside down overnight, don’t wash them it will destroy all their scent!
- When the insects have left these flowers, take 5 liters of water,
- 350g cane sugar,
- 3 lemons from which you squeeze the juice.
Mix everything together in a large basin, with a wooden spoon to avoid oxidation.
Lay a sheet over it, the ideal is to let it work for a big week (!)
in a well-ventilated place. When the smell of fermentation is present, you pass through a sieve to remove any solids. Take lemonade bottles (with mechanical closures) and bottle it.
Fermentation continues in these bottles, store them away from light. Warning, very important:
for 12 days you will have to open each bottle every day to hear the pschiiit which signals that the gas is leaving
(Gaspard!! Well, let’s be serious, we’re coming to the end.)
Here it is: you have your elderberry champagne, lightly alcoholic drinkdrink very fresh within 6 months.
It has a floral scent, it’s really excellent!
I don’t know if Emmanuel Grosbois and his family will serve it to you during your visit to the A Fleur d’Eau garden in Cherveux (79) but this garden is open throughout the summer.
To be consumed in moderation, the elderberry drink, not the garden!