Beech Leaf Noyau

Name: Beech Leaf Noyau
Yield: makes 4 cups
Ingredients: 1 loosely packed grocery bag full of soft young beech leaves, sufficient to pack tightly into a 2 1/2- to 3-cup jar; 2 cups gin; 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar; Brandy

January 24, 2012

Season: Late April to early May. The name for this unusual alcoholic cordial is actually the French word for fruit pit. Traditionally, it was made from bitter almonds or peach pits mixed with gin and left to steep in a warm place for several days before being cooked up with sugar, and then filtered through blotting paper. This recipe is from Richard Mabey’s excellent Food for Free. It uses the young, silken leaves of the European beech tree (Fagus sylvatica), to make an exquisite hedgerow version of the liqueur; the leaves first appear toward the end of April.

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