Quatre Pattes

Last Week at the market, I came across a very intriguing box of bonbons. It was actually sold to me in return for a donation to an animal refuge, whilst a minature goat ate my wicker shopping basket and the children looked on, rather bemused.

It was a token offering in return for funds for the refuge, but as soon as I saw the box I thought ‘how beautiful!’. I was immediately reminded of my sister-in-law, who in Germany, told me once that her grandfater used to make pine-bud syrup for her and her sisters’ throats.

All this week, my daughter has had a sore throat, especially during the night and I have been giving her these little sweets to suck and comfort her. I would like to make my own syrup, we have an abundance of pine trees here, all shapes and sizes - what a wonderful way to utilise their healing power. So I did some research, asked Henriette from the Garden on the Hilltop and she came back to me with recipes for sirop:

First we seem to have 2 recipes for sirup
1) common spruce (Picea abies) sirup - good for coughs, colds, sore throat. In spring when the tips are pale green and fresh- pick them and put them in a glass and fill with raw honey. You can add alcohol on top - I don´t … but then you need to be careful with hygiene. Let it stand a dark - but not too cold place for 3 months or so- sieve the honey/ sirup and store to next winter.

2) Pine sirup Pinus silvestris - good against bronchitis, asthma etc:
400 gram new pine tips and 1 litre water- boil slowly a hour or 2. Sieve liquid/tea and add back to pot. Add 250 grams honey and boil carefully until it resembles sirup.
from Henriette.

I’ll have to get out there and start identifying the different types of pine trees now!!

About the Author...

I am an english mummy living in the french Alps, I am a nourisher to my dear other half and two girls of five and two. I am just about to start homeschooling the girls and we aim to travel around Europe with them next year. We follow the WAP diet and live a slow life up here in the mountains.