Ginger Cordial
Some people might think this is a post about being nice to redheads. It isn’t, although I suppose I could write something about the ridiculousness of that particular much-perpetuated image.
No, this is about drink!
Non-alcoholic, before you get too excited. It’s quite simple really. It goes like this:
- take a decently-sized piece of fresh ginger
- peel it
- slice it thinly
- tip it into a small saucepan with some water and a generous amount of sugar
- heat it gently, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar to form a syrup
- continue to cook gently until it tastes quite strongly gingery
- add more sugar if it doesn’t seem syrupy enough
- strain
- allow to cool a bit, then place into a jar, bottle or other suitable lidded storage vessel
When you want to drink it, dilute some down with water. For strength, you’re aiming for something like commercial ‘high juice’ squashes. You could make it weaker, but then you just need a bigger helping in each glassful.
I have no idea how long this keeps, but if you make the syrup really sugary it should keep until you drink it, because it’ll get drunk fast, sugar’s a preservative and ginger’s antibacterial.