Seasonal Recipe: Hawthorn Cordial

It’s May, the month which has a flower named after it in British culture. The ‘Mayflower’ comes from a tree which is very important in British mythology, the Hawthorn tree.

The scientific (Latin) name for the Hawthorn family is Crataegus, which translates to ‘strong and sharp’.As the name suggests, all trees in this family have sharp thorns. Despite this, the hawthorn is associated with romance, love and fertility. Perhaps we can see this as a symbol of how painful love can sometimes be!

The Hawthorn tree gives us many edible treats. In the early spring, you can pick the young leaves and eat them in salad. I always think they taste a bit like pumpkin seeds. In the autumn, red-orange berries grow, which are very rich in vitamins, especially vitamin C. Indeed, eating hawthorn berries is believed to be one of the main ways in which British people survived the long cold winters, back in the days before we could import fruits from all over the world.

But probably the most magical part of the tree is the ‘mayflower’ itself. These flowers begin to bloom, as their name suggests, around the beginning of May. This time is traditionally associated with connections to fairies and the fairy world
(for more about this, see my article here:
 https://cafetalk.com/column/read/?c=eJwzNyhODCuPcs72Dch0inAOMazM9i9wtLUFAGMzB9c.&lang=en). The symbol of the fairies is a reminder to us all to invite more playfulness into our lives, and to take care of the natural world.

And you can also eat the mayflowers! One delicious British recipe for using Hawthorn flowers is Hawthorn cordial.

A cordial is a drink made from mixing flowers with sugar and lemon juice. Hawthorn cordial is sweet and bubbly. The Hawthorn tree is also very good for the heart (remember the connection with love and romance?) so drinking this is also healthy!

To make Hawthorn cordial, you just need an equal amount of sugar and water, and just over twice that amount of mayflower blossoms, and some lemon juice. Ideally, you would need raw, natural sugar, such as panela. Honey is also an excellent alternative and even healthier.

Dissolve the honey or sugar in the water over a low heat, then mix in the flowers and simmer gently for about 25 minutes. Then strain the flowers out, and you have a delicious drink to celebrate May with!
For a more detailed recipe, I recommend this website: https://gathervictoria.com/2017/12/15/happy-may-eve/

If you would like to learn more about British culture and customs, please book a class with me.