Foraging the Alpujarras & A Recipe for Horehound Tonic
The first time we visited the Alpujarra wasn’t intentional at all. We had just spent a few weeks on Mallorca transitioning to Spanish life and figuring out our next steps and had arranged to work on a small farm near Gaucín to gain some experience and have a look around.
The drive from the ferry terminal in Denia to the Genalguacil valley was about 7 hours so we found a quaint little airbnb in a tiny village (if you can even call it that) called Las Canteras. Right on the halfway mark.
We arrived in the late afternoon after a butt clenching drive down a comically narrow road with a sheer rock face on one side and a certain-death drop on the other. Little did we know this would become a theme in the months to come.
The tiny village square was empty but for a pair of geriatric dogs with high pitched barks that came hobbling up to us. Luna and Frodo turned out to belong to Lucinda and Paul, the couple who’s studio we would be staying in.
As we walked down the path to the house we met Chips and Blacky, two more members of the Las Canteras dog gang that currently outnumbers the amout of human inhabitants.
Paul emerged shortly after that and in a lovely soft spoken Yorkshire accent showed us around and explained how things worked, dictating from a little handwritten note.
We spent three days there wandering through the Rio Yatór valley, picking all manner of edible flowers and leaves and raiding the abandoned orchards for daily fresh oranges. In late March we found black mustard flowers, the greenest rosemary either of us had ever seen, thyme, sage, white horehound, water mint, vetch, wild fennel, chickweed, cleavers, wild asparagus, and some very confused chard by the side of the path.
Most of these things can either be tossed in a salad but some require a bit more attention.
Uses of Horehound
Horehound for instance isn't so much an edible as it is a medicinal herb. It is terribly bitter but can be used for all manner of things. When made into tea it can relieve indigestion, bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation. It is used to kill parasitic worms. It’s also a diuretic which means it increases urine production and thus helps flush the system. If you have a cough or any lung issues, taking a preparation of horehound will make it easier to cough up phlegm. Aside from the amazing medicinal traits, it also makes a bangin’ naturally fermented tonic or bitter lemon (more on that below). In other words, a great herb to have in your foraging arsenal.
how to prepare wild asparagus
Wild asparagus tastes very much like your store bought green asparagus but much stronger and it’s about as thin as a pencil. Simply sautéed is best with a bit of garlic, salt and lemon juice.
what is cleavers?
I like to think of cleavers more as a vegetable than anything else. It’s a diuretic as well and wherever you do find them, there’s loads. Pick the softer top bits rather than the whole stalk as they tend to get a bit stringy and hard towards the bottom. Don’t let the rough texture throw you off, once stir fried with generous amounts of garlic, they soften up quite nicely and like a lot of foragable greens, tastes a bit like spinach.
Recipe for horehound tonic / bitter lemon
In lieu of quinine, a bark extract of the cinchona tree, responsible for the bitter taste in tonic as well as bitter lemon, I use horehound (or mugwort depending on what I can find).
The other ingredients are best bought organic, or freshly picked in the case of lemons, to ensure a nice clean fermentation. No added cultures are needed for this recipe as there are more than enough wild ones already available. The horehound, the lemon’s skin, and your skin(!) all carry a beautiful selection of yeasts just waiting for the right environment to create your delicious fizzy drink. No need to disinfect your hands or receptacles, a good clean with water and soap is enough.
For about a litre of tonic / bitter lemon you will need:
1 large bottle, preferably with a good tight flip top but a plastic soda bottle will work fine.
1 or 2 sprigs of horehound, about 15cm long
1 organic lemon
about half a thumb worth of organic ginger (yes, your actual thumb, half of that)
100gr sugar (white or light cane sugar is best but you could use honey or agave syrup too if you prefer)
1000gr non-chlorinated water (the chlorine will prevent fermentation)
Combine the water, sugar and juice of the lemon in the bottle and shake until the sugar has dissolved. Cut the ginger into strips thin enough to fit through the bottle opening.
For a more bitter lemony flavour cut the squeezed lemon into strips and add to the bottle along with the ginger and one sprig of horehound.
For a more tonicy vibe, leave out the lemon rinds and add ginger and 2 sprigs of horehound. It will be quite sweet now but the fermentation will take care of most of that sugar.
Seal the bottle and let sit in your kitchen away from direct sunlight for about 4 days, depending on the ambient temperature.
Check the bottle every day by carefully opening it. Listen for the hiss of escaping gas, this should increase every day until it sounds like you’re opening a bottle of store bought soda. Be very careful towards the end as it can get volcanic.
If you are using a plastic bottle you can test it by squeezing it. The harder it is, the more CO2 has built up inside. When you are satisfied with the amount of fizz, chill in the fridge and enjoy!