The fruits of Summer always amaze, the sweetness and flavor unmatched. Though I have been previously obsessed with jams and jellies as a preservation technique, the last couple of years have been a period of experimentation with other preserving techniques. Syrups, cordials, and infusions are a great way to capture the essence of Summer fruits, and are easy to make, often requiring little or any cooking.
Traditionally a Ratafia is made from either crushed apricot kernels or cherry pits, infused in a syrup that has been fortified with brandy or vodka. Sounds simple? Yes, but every source I came across mentioned the presence of cyanide in both apricot kernels and cherry pits, and the danger of this drink! Now, this is the kind of thing that always seriously annoys me, where is the science? I don’t believe that such a recipe would exist and be made continually if there was a serious danger but, lacking contact with a lab to test the cyanide content or the time to really explore the subject, I mean I have cherries on my counter with a shelf life (!), I present you with an alternative. And, if anyone has real concrete scientific findings on the cyanide content and it’s real danger, please share!
I first made this last Summer, as an experiment. I really liked the result and it was the perfect, really perfect, beverage for the late Fall and Winter. Perfect on those days when I returned wet from the forest, with basket of mushrooms, or damp from the ocean, with basket of mussels. This is for the forager at heart, it will sweeten and warm the inside while calming that wild invigorated look that comes from foraging on a cold and windy day.
Ratafia de Cerises
- 1 1/2 pounds cherries, I used the Bing variety
- Brandy, 750ml bottle
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cup water
- I vanilla bean
- Make a simple syrup by mixing the sugar and water and bringing to a boil.
- Wash and pit the cherries.
- In a clean glass container, add the pitted cherries, the simple syrup, the brandy, and vanilla bean.
- Mix well.
- Store in a cool dark place for a month. Strain, reserving the cherries (for ice cream or a special tarte !).
This is a very flavorful and aromatic infusion, the perfume of the vanilla marries the sweet earthiness of the cherries with the caramel-like and mild bouquet of the brandy, both delicate but harmonious with the vanilla.
Sonia, this sounds absolutely wonderful. Added to champagne would make a nice twist on a Kir Royale, no?
Sounds nice, though my brother in law makes a wicked elixir, kirsch and schnapps from plums, and I have been dying to make limoncello for some time now myself!
Sounds good, be careful the elephant doesn’t take a sip with his trunk!
I can taste this from your description! Wonderful!
fantastic stuff – i also get annoyed to read about toxins in certain natural food substances that we commonly eat in greece. according to wikipedia, people in crete should be dead because they eat solanum nigrum and tamus creticus…
sounds delicious… and i think the kir is a great idea.
also, excellent elephant. we must go to the fair again.
Well, I looked it up.
Medline has:
“Acute cyanide toxicity caused by apricot kernel ingestion”, _Annals of Emergency Medicine_, 1998.
“A 41-year-old woman ingested apricot kernels purchased at a health food store and became weak and dyspneic within 20 minutes. The patient was comatose and hypothermic on presentation but responded promptly to antidotal therapy for cyanide poisoning. She was later treated with a continuous thiosulfate infusion for persistent metabolic acidosis. This is the first reported case of cyanide toxicity from apricot kernel ingestion in the United States since 1979.”
And:
“CYANIDE POISONING FROM APRICOT SEEDS AMONG CHILDREN IN CENTRAL TURKEY,” _New England Journal of Medicine_, 1964, No Abstract Available.
And:
“Cyanide poisoning associated with the feeding of apricot kernels to dairy cattle”, _The Veterinary Record_, 2008
And:
“Metabolic changes associated with anaesthesia and cherry poisoning in a pony”, _Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia_, 2009.
“OBSERVATIONS: A case of a pony with severe cyanide intoxication as a result of cherry ingestion is presented….the pony was euthanized as a result of neurological signs. The diagnosis of cyanide intoxication was made post-mortem. CONCLUSION: Cherry ingestion can lead to lethal cyanide intoxication in horses indicated by severe nonhypoxic lactic acidosis during anaesthesia.”
And:
“Retrospective trends and current status of ethyl carbamate in German stone-fruit spirits.
_Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology_, 2007.
“Ethyl carbamate (urethane, C(2)H(5)OCONH(2)) is a known genotoxic carcinogen of widespread occurrence in fermented food and beverages with highest concentrations found in stone-fruit spirits. Between 1986 and 2004, 631 cherry, plum or mirabelle (yellow plum) spirits were analysed for ethyl carbamate using gas chromatography in combination with mass spectrometry after extrelut extraction [which showed concentrations of ethyl carbamate]….nearly 20 years after the first warnings about ethyl carbamate in spirit drinks, the problem persists especially in products derived from small distilleries. During experimental production of stone-fruit spirits using state-of-the-art technologies, it was shown that the occurrence of ethyl carbamate in stone fruit spirits is preventable. Even for small distilleries, simple possibilities like destoning exist to minimize the ethyl carbamate content.”
you might want to try and talk with Monica Pope who has a restaurant in Houston, ta’fia that has daily Ratafia’s. http://www.tafia.com/
Good to do the basic research; but once again, we must always ask, what is the QUANTITY of cyanide that is found in one peach kernal, and how many kernals would one use in an average recipe? Some poisons in tiny amounts have been found to be curative; and some research uses vast impossible-to-eat in-a-lifetime-quantities of an ingredient and then labels it toxic (for self-serving reasons). I have a recipe using about 5 peach kernals, and I’m going to go for it. Regards.