Bring Back a Shrubbery!

As someone who has become increasingly committed to using what I already have, I’m always looking for creative ways to avoid wasting food.

Which brings us to three persimmons.

Two days ago, I had three persimmons that had become far too squishy for me to willingly allow into my mouth. It’s a texture thing, okay?

After some searching, I found a recipe for something called a shrub—a sweetened vinegar syrup that can be mixed into everything from bourbon cocktails to sparkling water.

Naturally, I had to try it.

The process begins by peeling the persimmons and squishing out the insides.

Shudder.

The resulting pulp goes into a bowl. The basic ratio is about 1:1 fruit to sugar, so I combined 1 cup of persimmon pulp with 1 cup of sugar. I also added roughly a tablespoon of ginger powder because it sounded like a good idea at the time.

I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and left it in the refrigerator overnight.

The next morning—at approximately 6:40 a.m., for reasons I still cannot explain—I strained out the solids and was left with about 2 ounces of syrup.

The solids weren’t wasted. I saved them in a separate container with plans to add them to yogurt later.

Next came the vinegar.

I chose apple cider vinegar because I thought it would pair nicely with the sweetness of the persimmons. Most shrub recipes call for a 1:1 ratio of syrup to vinegar, but since this was my first attempt, I approached it cautiously.

After all, you can always add more vinegar.

You cannot un-vinegar something.

I started at about 50% of the recommended amount and gradually worked my way up to around 75%, tasting as I went.

Once I was happy with the balance, I transferred everything to a mason jar and gave it a good shake.

Then I tasted it.

Wow.

This is going to be good.

At the time of writing, I haven’t actually used it in a drink yet. I want to give the flavors another day or two to mingle before I start experimenting.

Besides, I only ended up with about 4 ounces of shrub.

If it’s as good as I think it’s going to be, I need to exercise at least a little self-control.