Whenever he has a glut of fruit, Tom Hill, chef/co-owner of Duck Soup and Little Duck The Picklery in London and Emilia in Ashburton, Devon, turns it into drinking vinegar. “At the moment, we’ve got a rhubarb one on,” he tells me, “and even once the rhubarb is spent, there’s still lots of flavour in the fruit, so I turn that into chutney to go with cheese.”
Drinking vinegars, or shrubs, can be made from just about any fruit. Soft fruits will break down naturally, but if you’re using a harder fruit such as pear or peach, grate or chop it up first. At this time of year, for instance, the hedgerows should be full of juicy, ripe blackberries, and blackberry shrub just happens to make a great cocktail known as a bramble. To serve two, pour 100ml dry gin and 100ml fresh lime juice into a shaker, add ice, shake hard, then strain into two glasses filled with crushed ice. Drizzle a 25ml shot of blackberry shrub over the top of each glass (see how to make it below), garnish with a slice of lime and a couple of blackberries, and serve.
