stoke your inner fire 🔥
fire cider
Ever winter since learning about this zinger of a folk remedy, I grate up a heaping pile of horseradish, hot peppers and veggies while my eyes weep uncontrollably over the kitchen sink.Â
Even the act of preparing invigorates and gets your juices flowing, which is its own minor thrill in these dog days of winter when our bodies tend to feel stagnant and sluggish.
Typically made in the fall or winter, this remedy is a potent way to mobilize immunity and boost circulation to warm and energize us as we anticipate spring.Â
It's made from a powerhouse blend of antibacterial, antimicrobial, and immune boosting herbs and veggies infused into apple cider vinegar. After a few weeks it gets strained and blended with mineral-rich raw honey to balance the flavours and help all the medicine go down. Â
The health benefits are numerous so various cultures have had versions of this zesty, vinegary immune booster for centuries. There are as many different spins on Fire Cider as people making it.Â
Since folk recipes have always been made by and for the people, it's extremely adaptable, affordable, and reliant on the herbs that grow within your region, and in this case, ingredients that you likely already keep stocked in your kitchen.
I'm captivated by the energetic instructions that get passed on with these kinds of remedies, and the folklore around Fire Cider is especially juicy.Â
People used to bury it underground for a month while it was infusing to absorb the healing energies of the earth, sing songs and incantations to it while shaking and stirring to imbue it with blessings, and my personal favourite (something we do with Northlore's herbal infusions), let it infuse for a full cycle under the moon to soak up some lunar magic.
Here's my recipe with lots of room for adaption to make your own magic.
Take a shot a day to boost your health, or if you can’t handle that much fire, it makes a delicious addition to soups, stews and marinades. Or whiz it into hummus! Splash it on sautéed veggies! Toss it with a big bowl of fresh greens, olive oil, nuts and a nice cheese for your new favourite salad.Â
To your health!
If you’re taken with this folksy, fiery cider thing but not the type of person to track down fresh horseradish root and weep over it in your kitchen- we’ve bottled some for you!
In Winnipeg? Pop into the shop for First Fridays tonight from 5-9 and take a shot with us!
We’ll also be handing out cute recipe cards to take home and will have a few bottles of our micro-batch, specially reserved for the shop.
