Kümmel at home. "Old, honest kümmel": the original caraway tincture for true gourmets. Useful properties of tincture
Kümmel is a strong cumin-based alcoholic drink. Depending on the recipe, it may be flavored with fennel, toffee and other herbs. The name comes from the German word "k?mmel", which means "cumin". There are two large groups of alcoholic cumin tinctures: kyummel liqueurs and bitter kyummels.
The history of the drink
First written reference The Kümmel recipe dates back to 1503. It was compiled by a knight of the Livonian Order, who did not give his name. On an industrial scale, kymmel was first produced in Amsterdam at the Bols factory, at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries.
During the Great Embassy, Peter the Great, having tasted the Dutch caraway tincture, decided to produce such a drink in Russia. The Russian kümmel, which was produced in Riga, immediately acquired a difference from the European one - it was sweeter, more cumin and alcohol were added there. This drink was called "Doppel-Kummel" (double kümmel).
After some time, another caraway drink, Kyummel Alash, became popular in the Russian Empire. Its production was founded in 1823 on the estate of the Allash family near Riga. In Soviet times, based on its recipe, Allazhsky caraway and Allazhsky caraway with molasses drinks were produced. The basis of the first was aromatic spirits of cumin, lemon and coriander. For the second, the corresponding oils were used instead of alcohols.
In the 19th century, the Allasch Kummel recipe was bought from Russia by the German company Mentzendorff.
At the end of the 19th century, another vodka was distributed in Russia - Kümmel Pure. Sugar was not added to it at all, and caraway distillate, caraway oil and carvol, a mixture of aromatic oils, served as the basis. The strength of this drink was 50%.
Varieties of the drink
In Europe, the drink is available in several different variations:
- K?mmel, which is produced in Holland and Germany, is also a spicy flavor, in which there is practically no sugar. Its strength is 30-34 degrees. The most famous German company that produces kümmel is Gilka.
- Strong caraway tinctures with a medium sugar content. For example, the Italian 70-degree kyummel XENTA, where coriander and bitter wormwood are added. They drink it with a piece of sugar, just like.
- Caraway liqueur, which is produced in Latvia. It is a 35-40 degree drink with a characteristic caraway aroma and a light anise aftertaste.
- Estonian liquor "Kannu Kukk" is a sweet strong drink (50% sugar and 45% alcohol), the main components of which are the aromatic alcohol of cumin fruits, orange and coriander oils. At the bottom of the bottle, you can see several large sugar crystals due to the presence of supersaturated sugar syrup in the recipe.
Main components:
- Caraway. For cumin vodka, it is cumin of the umbrella family that is used, and not zira (cumin).
- Anise. Not to be confused with star anise, these are different plants, although with a similar aroma.
- Violet root. This is the root of the orris, which is used in crushed form as an aromatic additive.
Dorofeev Pavel/ Date: 2016-05-29 3:16 Heading: no comments
Caraway vodka recipe
Glad to see you back on my blog! Well, stocks ran out and you came for something new? You are just in time. Today I will share with you an interesting drink. So, meet - Caraway vodka, a recipe from Pavel Dorofeev.
The recipe is very simple, but the drink is beyond praise. Although, the recipe I called is not quite right. Today we will prepare caraway tincture, not vodka. Vodka is obtained by distillation, and not everyone has a moonshine still. Therefore, today I present a recipe that does not require special equipment. For the masses, so to speak.
Ingredients
- vodka - 0.5 l
- cumin - 2.5 g (about 1 tsp)
- coriander - 1 g (about ½ tsp)
Recipe
Useful properties of tincture
Cumin has good anti-inflammatory properties. It is used as an antidepressant, with insomnia, increased irritability and excitability. Also used to prevent prostatitis.
Coriander promotes the formation of gastric juice and improves digestion. Therefore, the tincture will help get rid of heaviness in the stomach after a heavy dinner. Interesting fact Coriander contains even more vitamin C than lemon.
My impression of the tincture
The tincture has a pleasant straw color. The aroma is soft, unobtrusive. The taste is original, with bitterness. In general, the drink is not bad, but I like cumin more in combination with anise in.
That's all for me. When you try the drink, be sure to unsubscribe about your impressions in the comments. Also, don't forget to subscribe to new articles. Bye everyone!
Sincerely, Dorofeev Pavel.
Kümmel is the most popular in Europe and unfairly forgotten in our latitudes a bitter cumin-based liquor. But at one time, tincture very often appeared on the “wine cards” of noble Russian houses, and Emperor Peter the Great loved it so much that he even set up mass production of the drink in his homeland.
Kümmel is distinguished by a pronounced aroma of cumin with light notes of spices and herbs - anise, dill, citrus peels. This liquor was mentioned in their novels by Kuprin, Hemingway and Remarque - the latter painted its amazing taste and effect of consumption so juicy that it is simply impossible not to want to try it!
Kümmel liqueur: drops of the Danish king or the Russian emperor?
There is probably no other liquor with such a controversial and controversial history.
Mass production of cumin tincture was first established at the Bols factory in Amsterdam, at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. But in historical sources, the first mention of kümmel dates back to 1503 - a documented liquor recipe compiled by a knight of the Livonian Order, which consisted mainly of Germans, dates back to this time (in fact, “kummel” is translated from German as “cumin”).
“Do you know what my favorite vodka is? Kümmel! Believe it or not. Old, honest kümmel!”
"A Time to Live and a Time to Die"
The Livonian origin of the kümmel looks plausible: at that time, the modern Allazh parish of Latvia was also part of the order lands, where, according to experts, the best, fragrant and generally incomparable cumin grows. By the way, the coat of arms of the Allazhsky Pogost depicts a bush of cumin and a millstone, which in some way should symbolize “Allasch kummel”.
With the history of the drink is related to one interesting legend. Allegedly, once King Frederick II of Denmark fell seriously ill. Against the backdrop of political problems, the crowned Frederick began to suffer from insomnia, nervous exhaustion, stomach ailments, and even male weakness. Dutch doctors were summoned to the court, who prescribed caraway tincture to the monarch. In a matter of weeks, the king completely restored all his strength, as evidenced by Frederick's 7 children and a short but stormy romance with the English Queen ElizabethI. Kümmel is one of the contenders for the title of "drops of the Danish king", which, as you know, "heal the dead from death."
Peter I rarely fell ill, but he liked to drink, during the Great Embassy he tried all the overseas elixirs that came to hand. After the Dutch treated His Majesty to caraway liqueur, Peter firmly decided to establish the production of this alcohol in Russia. He bought the recipe for kummel from the Bols family, made some adjustments to it and set up a small factory in the same Allage estate. Liqueurs "Allasch Kummel" and "Doppel-Kummel" with a high content of cumin, sugar and alcohol quickly gained popularity in the Russian Empire.
"... a dashing brawler,
With whose youthful head
Neither Doppel-Kummel, nor Madeira,
Not even noisy ai
Could never get along"
Lermontov
At the end of the 19th century, the recipe for "Double Caraway" was bought by the German company Mentzendorff. Kümmel began his victorious march through Europe. Since that time, the drink has been produced according to several different recipes:
“There was a kümmel,” I said. “The best kümmel comes in these bear bottles. It is brought from Russia"
"A Farewell to Arms!"
A few homemade kummel recipes
There are quite a few recipes for caraway tincture, they sometimes differ significantly in composition and nuances of preparation. It combines three main ingredients:
Actually, caraway. The most common European cumin of the "umbrella" family, and not the so-called "black cumin", it is also kalindzhi or nigella, and not cumin - it is also cumin.
Anise. Do not forget that anise and star anise are completely different plants, although their aroma is similar. Common anise is also a representative of the "umbrella", and star anise is a relative of lemongrass.
Dill seeds. Everything is simple here. By the way, again, "umbrella".
In addition, recipes often feature such a rare component as orange peel. Pomeranian is also called the "wild orange", although in pots it grows already running. An unauthoritative source in the corresponding Wiki article claims that the orange is a hybrid of a mandarin and a pomelo - both of these fruits can be easily obtained in our markets, their peels, combined together, in theory, should give the desired effect. Real orange can be found in stores in ground form, as well as in sets of spices for mulled wine. In addition, orange peel, according to moonshiners, can be replaced with kumquat peel. In some recipes, they even change it for a lemon - as they say, for lack of a maid ...
And one more difficulty that can await a novice kümmel-maker is violet root. This is not violet root, as one would logically assume. This is an iris, most often a yellow, such a beautiful flower. Its crushed rhizomes are used as a spice and flavoring.
Recipe #1: Classic Kümmel
- Vodka ( good moonshine, 50% alcohol) - 3.5 l.
- Cumin - 50 gr.
- Anise - 50 gr.
- Dill seeds - 20 gr.
- Violet root - 20 gr.
- Orange peel - 30 gr. (we take, respectively, 15 grams of lemon peel and pomelo).
All ingredients are crushed in a pusher or coffee grinder, placed in a jar and filled with alcohol. The whole thing is infused for 2 weeks in a warm and - as usual - dark place, after which it is filtered through gauze and a cotton filter.
Recipe #2: Homemade Kümmel with Lemon Peel
- Vodka (alcohol, moonshine) - 1 l.
- Cumin (seeds) - 6 tablespoons.
- Anise - 2 tablespoons
- Violet root - 3 tbsp.
- Dill seeds - 2 tbsp.
- Lemon peel - 2 tbsp
- Sugar - 0.5 cups.
Grind peels and violet root, throw all the ingredients into a jar, pour alcohol. This caraway tincture is prepared for 2-3 weeks, after which it is filtered through gauze. After filtering, add sugar to it and stand for another day or two, and then filter it again through cotton wool or a dense cloth.
Recipe number 3: cumin tincture with star anise
This drink cannot be called kümmel, as it does not use anise and orris root. Its smell is more minty, with a herbal tinge.
- Vodka - 1 liter.
- Cumin - 50 gr.
- Star anise - 50 gr.
- Fennel - 25 gr.
- Dill seeds - 12 grams.
Pour everything with vodka, leave for 2 weeks, filter, if necessary, sweeten with sugar syrup.
Recipe #4: Lemon Kummel
This cumin tincture recipe differs from the classic kyummel in proportions, as well as in the replacement of orange with lemon.
- Vodka - 2 liters.
- Cumin - 40 gr.
- Anise - 50 gr.
- Dill (seeds) - 50 gr.
- Crushed lemon peel - 50 gr.
- Crushed violet root - 36 gr.
- Sugar - 2 tsp
All ingredients are mixed, poured with vodka and infused for a week. After that, the drink must be filtered, add sugar and stir until completely dissolved, and then filtered again.
A bitter drink infused with cumin called ?Kümmel? very popular in European countries. In Russia, the production of caraway tincture was established by Peter I, who really liked the unusual taste of the drink, which became the favorite alcoholic delicacy of the nobility.
An exquisite drink can be prepared independently. Spicy seeds of black or ordinary cumin are used to make homemade vodka, which makes the taste of a strong drink soft and refreshing. Caraway vodka will appeal not only to true connoisseurs of original treats, but also to all lovers of high-grade alcohol. The recipe is available to everyone, the physical and material costs are minimal, while the result will exceed all expectations.
Cumin tincture recipes
There are various options for preparing a tincture from ordinary or black cumin. After reviewing all the methods, you can choose the most suitable one. The main criterion for a tasty, unusual tincture is a long exposure.
Recipe? one
What ingredients are needed:
- cumin 2 tsp
- sugar 2 tsp
- alcohol 200─250 ml
- water 400─450 ml.
Mix black cumin seeds and sugar, pour in water. Boil this mixture for at least 20 minutes while stirring. Then cool the resulting drink and strain well. There should be about 250-300 ml of liquid, in case of a smaller amount, pour in chilled boiled water to the desired volume. Mix everything with alcohol, pour into a bottle. Put a tightly corked bottle for a month or two in a place protected from direct sunlight. The more time it will stand, the tastier it will be consumed.
Recipe? 2
Required ingredients for cooking:
- 40─50 gr cumin
- vodka 1 l
- sugar or honey to taste.
Finely ground spicy seeds are placed in the prepared container, poured with vodka. Covering tightly with a lid, leave to infuse for 5-7 weeks. After, in a well-strained drink, sweetness is added to taste. Pre-dissolve sugar, honey separately in a small amount of vodka, only then add to the finished alcohol. You can use sugar syrup for sweetness. After stirring well, leave in a cool place for another one or two weeks.
Sugar syrup is prepared as follows: in a bowl with clean water granulated sugar pours out. Based on 5-6 glasses of sugar per glass of water, the proportions are selected individually. Bring to the absolute dissolution of sugar, after boiling, cook for 7 minutes, removing the foam. Ready syrup should be cooled, then pour into the drink.
Recipe? 3
This cumin tincture has a taste and smell with a delicate herbal tint, in addition to black or simple cumin, other spices are used. What you need to make a drink:
- 2─3 liters of vodka
- anise 40 gr
- cumin 45─50 gr
- dill 25 gr
- violet root 20 gr
- orange or lemon peel 30 gr.
Finely grind all the ingredients and mix with vodka. In a sealed container, let it brew for 2-4 weeks. The place is chosen dark, warm. After that, the drink should be mixed with sugar syrup, stirred well and left for 24 hours. Strain the finished alcohol through a fine sieve, leaving for another 2 weeks. You can reduce the exposure time a little.
Recipe? 4
What components are needed:
- vodka 1─2 l
- cumin 40─50 gr
- Melissa 40─45 gr
- mint 30─35 gr
- fennel 20─25 gr
- dill seeds 10─15 gr
- calamus 20─25 gr
- coriander 25 gr.
All dry spices are finely crushed and poured with vodka. The drink should be infused for twenty days in a warm place. Then
carefully filtered, sugar syrup is added if necessary.
Recipe? 5
What and how much is used in the manufacturing process:
- vodka 1.5─2 l
- cumin 45─50 gr
- star anise 40─50 gr
- fennel 20 gr
- dill seeds 10 gr.
All components are poured with vodka and infused for at least fifteen days. Then the drink is filtered, sugar syrup is added to taste.
Recipe? 6
This is the fastest and easiest way, which does not require long infusion, can be consumed immediately after production. Required ingredients for cooking:
- vodka 1─1.5 l
- cumin 2─4 tsp
- carnation 2─3 pcs.
Pour vodka into a saucepan and add spices. Heat to 60-70?, cool to room temperature and strain. After cooling, you can enjoy caraway vodka.
Recipe? 7
Caraway vodka can be prepared from pre-prepared caraway water. What are the necessary Ingredients:
- Cumin 400─450 gr
- Water 1 l.
The spice is filled with water, driven through a distillation apparatus. Or the mixture is boiled for one hour under the lid and infused. Water can be stored in the refrigerator or frozen in the freezer without losing its flavor. Sweeten as needed and add to vodka.
Recipe? eight
Another unusual recipe for alcohol from ordinary or black cumin. What and how much is used in the cooking process:
- 50 gr cumin,
- 10 gr cinnamon
- 10─15 gr of tartar stone
- 25 gr mint,
- 20-25 grams of white ginger.
Finely grind all the spices, pour vodka. Leave to infuse for at least fourteen days. After the tincture is distilled in a cube or filtered.
In the recipe for cumin vodka, can additional components be used to give a reddish tint? red sandalwood or ternazol. For cooking alcoholic drink from cumin simple or black, you can use the distillation procedure, driving with moonshine still or home distillery. The drink is infused not only with vodka, but with alcohol or moonshine.
The use of caraway tincture in therapeutic therapy
Alcohol tincture from black cumin seeds is a pleasant and delicious treat on the festive table, being an indispensable assistant in restoring health and strengthening immunity.
- The drink is used to normalize digestion, get rid of gases and cleanse blood vessels. Helps to cope with pain in the heart, eliminates bronchial spasm, increases respiratory activity. It has diuretic, choleretic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial properties, energizes.
- To prepare the tincture, it is necessary to pour 15 g of the plant with a glass of vodka or 100 g of alcohol, grind it thoroughly beforehand, add sugar to taste. Insist in a dark place for 14 days. Strained drink to use 1 teaspoon before the next meal. A variant is possible: 40-45 drops to drip on a slice of bread and eat. After using the tincture, you must take a break for at least two weeks, if necessary, repeat the course.
- Another recipe for black cumin tincture. Pour the seeds with alcohol liquid in proportions one to one, while so that the cumin overlaps by 3-4 ml. Infuse for at least a week, use one teaspoon per 50 grams of water in the evening.
- For those suffering from acne, there is a special recipe for cumin tincture. To make, you need half a glass of cumin seeds and a glass of alcohol. Infuse for a week, then strain and add half a glass of pure or mineral water so that it doesn't sting the skin.
- An infusion of a wonderful plant helps fight many infections, including tonsillitis. For cooking medicinal product it is necessary to pour 2-3 tablespoons of black cumin seeds with a liter of boiling water, let it brew for 3 hours. To dilute the bitterness, honey, sugar, and lemon are added. Gargle well with a solution and add to tea.
The use of black cumin seeds, oils, tinctures is popular in many countries and is used for the prevention and treatment of many diseases. This is an indispensable assistant in restoring vitality, in maintaining immunity. The miraculous plant even helps fight cancer. And cumin vodka is a real delight for gourmets.
Kümmel. The names of a few liqueurs from the early cocktail repertoire are accompanied by such confusion. Someone says that this is tincture of cumin, someone - cumin. The Netherlands, Russia and Germany take turns claiming they are making the best. What is hidden behind this herbal drink with a German name?
The confusion with cumin and cumin has always existed. Both are annual herbs whose grains are very similar. In many countries they have surprisingly similar names. In Scandinavia, cumin is called kummin, and cumin is called spiskummin. In Romania, chimen and chimion respectively. Even in German kümmel and Kreuzkümmel go hand in hand.
Cumin plays a big role in Asian and Mexican cuisines due to its strong flavor and aroma. It is also used in the Netherlands in the production of Leidse and Frisian (Frisian) clove cheeses.
Cumin, being a close relative of fennel in nature, in turn, is found in Scandinavian, German, Middle Eastern and even in the cuisine of the British Isles. Indeed, one of the largest cumin crops is harvested in the Netherlands, traditionally in the dead of night.
According to the Dutch, the Bols family produced cumin distillate along with other products when they started operations in 1575 in the Netherlands. It quickly gained popularity in Denmark and Latvia, where it was considered a remedy for indigestion and infantile colic. A century later, the Dutch distillery de Kuypers added cumin to its mix.
The simplest recipe for this tincture depends entirely on cumin, 900 grams is distilled with 11 liters of 80-degree neutral grain alcohol. The resulting 10 liters of distillate are diluted to 40 degrees with sugar syrup 1:1.
Kümmel won the heart of Peter the Great when he tried it in Amsterdam in 1696, where he lived for 18 months studying shipbuilding (under a false name, of course). He even visited the Bols distillery to see how it was made. Upon his return, he presented the drink to the court. Of course, he became a sensation.
But the liquor did not get half of the reputation and commercial success that it would gain a century later when, in 1823 in Latvia, the Dutch baron von Blankenhagen founded the Allasch distillery on his estate near Riga to produce kummel according to the family recipe: cumin, cumin and beet spirit. The business quickly developed, and in 1850 the baron offered Ludwig Mentzendorf to export products to London. The baron agreed to transfer all rights to the drink to Metzendorf, whose name also appeared on the label. Thus Mentzendorff Kümmel was born.
It should be said that Metzendorf Kümmel was not the only producer of this liquor in Riga. Albert Wolfschmidt founded a distillery in Riga in 1847 that produced vodka and schnapps, including kümmel and black balsam of riga.
By 1868, kymmel was also noted in Britain. Chambers' Encyclopedia defined kummel or doppel-kummel as the main Russian liquor, usually made from sweetened alcohol with the addition of cumin and caraway seeds, the latter usually imparting such a strong flavor that it overpowers all others. The article contained a critical comment: "there is a difference in quality: the liquor produced in Riga is more common, but not the best; the best is made in small quantities in Estonia; the main difference lies in the greater purity of the alcohol used." Obviously, the British love for kummel has flared up with a passion comparable to that they have for the traditional cumin pie.
Around this time, kümmel made its way to the United States and to cocktail recipes created by Harry Johnson and Willy Schmidt. Johnson went so far as to recommend that every decent establishment have a bottle of Allasch Russian Kümmel and to use Berlin Kümmel in his Prussian Grandeur Punch.
PRUSSIAN GRANDEUR PUNCH
(Use a large bowl)
680 g lump sugar
6 lemons, sliced
118 ml anise tincture
1 bottle of Berlin
6 sliced oranges
1 bottle of cherry vodka
5.6 liters of water
6 bottles of Nordhauser brandy
118 ml curacao
Stir well with a punch ladle, fill the bowl with ice and serve in a wine glass.
Founded in Berlin in 1836 by Karl Josef Alois Gilka, the J.A. Gilka was known for its Kaiser-Kümmel, which was beloved by the courts of Germany and Austria. This version contains more cumin than the Russian counterpart, so it's easier to fortify with anise tincture.
The "one and only" Willy Schmidt came up with the "The Beginner" family vermouth cocktail in a more Russian style.
THE BEGINNER
Cup with fine ice
2 dashes of gum
2 dashes orange bitters
1 dash of absinthe
1/2 cup French vermouth
1/2 cup Russian kummel
Stir, strain, you can serve.
Numerous manufacturers attempted to copy both styles. In 1918 a French distillation book published 4 formulas and several recipes for cold mixing herbal essences with alcohol. Kummel de Magdebourg distilled cumin seeds, fennel and Chinese cinnamon. Kummel de Dantzig used cumin, coriander, anise and fennel seeds. The Bardi distillery in Livorno, Italy decided to use cumin blossoms in Doppio Kümmel Italiano.
In the 1940s, kümmel even made its way to tiki drinks in the hands of Vic Begeron, creator of the Kaiser cocktail.
KAISER COCKTAIL
3/4 ounce gin
3/4 ounce kyummel
2 dashes French vermouth
Mix with crushed ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Then kümmel disappeared from the bars, moving to serve as a post-game drink for British and Scottish golfers who call it “putting mixture”: a great digestif after a hearty “Welsh rabbit”. This is the market for which the Combier distillery in the Loire Valley continued to produce kümmel original recipe Allasch 1823.
Was it because anise tincture, pastis, and other anise drinks were easier to find and cheaper to make? This we will never know. But the complexity of the kyummel - not just in name or origin, the complexity of flavor - makes it worth further experimentation in this great new cocktail age.