Popular in colonial times, a shrub is a sweetened fruit and vinegar syrup. It’s mainly used as a drink mixer, as in this recipe, but you can also use it to brighten a pan sauce for chicken or pork, to boost the flavor of a vinaigrette, or to add some zing to whipped cream for a unique dessert topping. Yields about 1 quart shrub, enough for 16 drinks. This recipe is from the archives. We demoed it at a class at Brookside Garden in November, 2011. We trot it out every year for teetotalers and anyone looking for something fresh and thirst-quenching. Adapted from Fine Cooking.
12 oz. (3 C) cranberries, rinsed and picked over
1 C granulated sugar
3/4 C white wine or apple cider vinegar
lime zest from one lime
Seltzer or water
Vodka (optional)
In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar, vinegar, and lime zest with 3 cups of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the cranberries are completely broken down, about 20 minutes. Let cool.
Purée with an immersion blender or in a food processor. Strain through a fine sieve set over a large bowl, pressing hard on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible.
Per drink, combine 3 to 4 Tbs. of the chilled shrub with one cup cold seltzer or water, or to taste. Add vodka as desired.
The shrub will keep, refrigerated in a jar, for up to two months.