slivovitz recipe

[Martin Votruba]

> a recipe for homemade slivovitz.

It may not be a particularly good idea.  It involves distillation, 
which, if not done with some expertise, can leave noxious and 
obnoxious things in the liquid.  The initial fermentation needs 
guidance and practice, too, to guarantee the final product some 
proximity to drinkable slivovica.

Get really ripe, better overripe (no rot or mold) _prune_ plums.  No 
other plums will do for slivovica: the root _sliv-_ = "prune plum" in 
several Slavic languages; the liquor made from them is called 
_slivovica_ in Slovak, Moravian Czech, Croatian, Serbian, _slivovka_ 
in Slovene, and is considered a characteristic local drink in most of 
those regions.

The following is from two descriptions (I have no experience with it).

Remove the stems and put them in a vessel (vat, barrel...).  It is 
better to mash, or even puree them in order to leave little or no 
room for air among the prune plums, and between them and the cover. 
Remove the stones for a smoother taste, as some insist, others leave 
them in for a "true" taste.  You may add a little ammonium phosphate 
(about 0.3 ounces per 10 US gallons).  Add sugary water if the plums 
aren't really sweet and really, really (over)ripe, which will also 
help push out the air.  Cover tightly, but allow gasses to escape. 
Stir periodically for the first 2 weeks.

Stop the fermentation, after about 2+ months, when the mash becomes 
pronouncedly sweet-and-sour and the amount of sugars drops under 3%. 
Stir in calcium carbonate (CaCO3) or calcium hydroxide (Ca[OH]2), 
about 4 ounces per 10 US gallons, more if the mash is very sour, in 
order to remove the sourness.  Keep the mash cool and airtight for 
1-2 days, then take it to a distillery.

The distillery needs to know what it is doing -- distill it slowly 
and in stages at various temperatures in order to remove the flavors 
and compounds that ruin slivovica and sight, but not too long. 
Reduce the concentrate with distilled water, which can be preferable 
to letting it distill too long.  After distillation, half-fill 
vessels with the distilled slivovica, close them, fan our the air and 
re-close them periodically for about a week.  Slivovica is (or might 
be) ready to drink or store.


Martin

votruba "at" pitt "dot" edu

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