Are plum brandy's days numbered? In Sumadija, traditional Serbian plum is replaced with raspberry

Foto: Pixabay, Telegraf

There is no household in the villages near Topola in central Serbia in the fall without the smoke rising and the smell of newly-made brandy coming from the cauldrons.

When they overdo it working in the field, the industrious heads of households light a fire under the cauldron and eagerly await for the first drip of "hot" brandy to come, which will determine the quality of the batch.

Recommended

The Jovanovic household from the village of Zagorica, not far from Topola, has long been engaged in distilling brandy - but the traditional kind, made from plums. However, this year they made the first liters of raspberry and blackberry brandy.

"In addition to our obligatory and recognizable plum brandy, I baked (distilled) brandy made from all kinds of fruit that we have here - even from several types of tropical fruit, out of curiosity, let's see how it goes. This year, for the first time I baked blackberry and raspberry brandy. It's a very simple process, but I don't think it makes sense to make larger quantities. The aroma and quality weren't to my taste, I expected much more. Those who have had the opportunity to try this brandy don't agree with me, they say it' sgood," Dragan Jovanovic told Top Press.

He also reveals the process of making this brandy.

"I put 70 kilograms of blackberries in the fermenting vessel, then I add 10 kilograms of sugar dissolved in 30 liters of hot water and then mix it all well. Fermentation begins immediately after the mixing. After three weeks the mixture goes into the cauldron and the baking (distillation) begins. One cauldron yieled 18 liters of 50 percent ABV brandy. The same procedure is used when preparing raspberry, mulberry, strawberry, banana brandy," explains Jovanovic.

Could our traditional plum brandy be replaced by some new types, such as raspberry or blackberry? Jovanovic says no, and adds:

"After my experience with all this fruit and brandies made from it, the advice I would give to those involved in this business or planning to start is to make brandy from plums, grapes, pears, apricots or quince. The rest is not worth the effort, perhaps make some small quantity, but not more," says Jovanovic.

(Telegraf Biznis/toppress.rs)