Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) is a wild flower that grows up to 1,5m and has flower clusters that bloom independently. According to folk culture, it was often used in the summer to perfume houses. One would hang bouquets of meadowsweet or simply squatter the flower cluster on the floor, and let it dry throughout the good season. In Norway, you'll often see it alongside the road. If you're thinking of foraging, we would recommend you look for a remote place, free from carbon gas and pollution. Leave the roadside for the pleasure of the eyes.
This "drinking syrup" is a poor translation of the Norwegian word "saft", which refers to syrup you dilute in water to drink. You can also make a jelly dessert from drinking syrup by adding some gelatin plates to it later on. The main difference between "drinking syrup" and "normal syrup" is the sugar-water ratio. It tends to be 1-1 for drinks compared to normal syrup that can easily go 2-1 (either by adding more sugar or by letting the mix simmer and thereby reduce the water). It is therefore a more thin liquid that dissolves easily in water.
Meadowsweet drinking syrup
Ingredients:
40-50 meadowsweet flower bouquets/plants
1kg - 1,5kg sugar
1,5 liter water
1,5 organic lemon, washed and sliced
40-50 gr of citric acid (optional, helps with preservation)
Recipe:
Following your good forager's rules, collect about 40-50 flowers from meadowsweet (we usually count one bouquet per plant).
Boil water in a pot. Once boiling, remove from heat and add the sugar and acid citric to make a clear syrup. Mix until the sugar is all dissolved.
In a heat-resistant bowl (think large!), put the flowers and top it with the lemon slices. Pour the sugar syrup on top of the lemon and flowers. Cover up (lid, plastic film, aluminum, what you have in the house) and leave to infused in a cool and dark place (the basement for example) for 3-5 days.
Filter in a cloth or a very tight strainer (that will catch both flower and whatever is floating there you wouldn't want in a drink) and pour it in boiled glass bottles. The drinking syrup will hold for several weeks but we found out it's better to store it in small quantities so that we don't "have to" drink it all quickly. You can easily freeze it, just remember to not overfill the bottles.
Et voilà ! To enjoy all year long, although it's probably best in the early spring, when the Earth warms up to the sun and the good days are coming.