In the past week or so, I saw a post somewhere in the forum where Carter mentions distillation and that this was something he knew a bit about. So I guess, Carter, this question is beamed in your direction, but there may be more than one who can chime in – the more the merrier. The background to the question is a bit convoluted, but let me try to set the scene.
Back in March, I attempted a Tomme au Marc (as per Ricki Carroll’s recipe), and it is not too far off being ready. In the absence of grape skins from wine production, I bought a kilo of grapes and obtained the skins. Instead of the ‘splash of merlot’ recommended by Ricki, I used what remained in a red wine bottle from dinner the previous evening.
This process seemed to be a good way of introducing some new flavours to a cheese, and I would like to explore it with some other fruits.
In the book, ‘French Cheeses’, there are several references to eau de vie, and googling showed that it is obtained from the distillation of the juice of fermented fruit. One of my fruit trees, an acerola cherry, is about to have its third fruiting (and last) for the season, and I would like to attempt an eau de vie from them, but draw a blank when it comes to the distillation process.
Is there anyone who can give me some simple instructions (is it simple?) for producing a distillate from the fermented cherries? Oh, and using kitchen utensils, if possible, rather than beakers etc from a science lab?
TIA
