The Art of An Herbal Remedy

A look at nalewka and other concoctions of the home apothecary

In the old days, everyone was an herbalist. Each family had their own stock of healing herbs, spices and superstitions. This I’ve known for awhile, but it wasn’t until recently that I discovered a layer of these home apothecaries that I hadn’t seen before.

This discovery came in the form of the nalewka (nah-LEF-kah), a traditional Polish alcoholic beverage which literally translates to “tincture”. I also recently learned that Slovenians have a similar formula called šnopec, so no doubt each Slavic culture has their own name and significance for this libation.

Bottle of nalewka from Epicure & Culture

A nalewka to my understanding is kind of a crown jewel of the family. Each family has its own recipe that is passed down from generation to generation and has a very specific recipe and process. It is often a heavily guarded secret. The finished nalewka is enjoyed after dinner as a digestif as well as on special occasions.

So what is its purpose? Not only is the nalewka crafted to showcase a beautiful display of local flavors to share with friends and family, but it is also used medicinally. Different varieties of nalewki (plural of nalewka) were crafted to address various ailments. For example, garlic nalewka for a cold or flu, rowan berry for digestion, pine for a cough, juniper for metabolism, and so on.

This is where something clicked for me. Within the Slavic culture and many other land-based cultures, medicine and celebration are not separate. Since I’ve started my herbal career, I’ve always felt that taking your medicine shouldn’t feel like taking medicine as thoughts of the sickly sweet fake cherry cough syrup bubbles to the surface. But this understanding unlocked a deeper sense of connection to the culture and the plants.

These medicinal preparations were intertwined with everyday life. It wasn’t something people took just because they were sick. Rather, it represented the story of a family. Tales of one family member making nalewka with alcohol he secretly distilled himself, or a grandfather using fresh raspberries growing along his fence, a mother making a maceration of apricot pits infused for a year, a brother and sister collecting fallen walnuts for the concoction, an aunt gifting a bottle of chokeberry nalewka to a niece abound. Each recipe becomes a ritual, cherished and celebrated by the family who created it.

So often we get caught up in text books and internet searches when it comes to working with herbs. But we’ve lost the art of creativity, family, and time. How much more potent a tincture would be if it were crafted, tweaked and shared for generations as opposed to a generic recipe found in a book that erases all history of a recipe.

I am a firm believer that we need less tinctures, salves, teas, etc at our disposal, and more devotion, love and curiosity aimed at just a handful of recipes. Formulas such as these tend to take on their own spirit and healing magic when we infuse them with so much intention. The modern herbalist may be baffled when they look into historical documents of certain cultural plants or tinctures being used as “cure alls”, but when you take time to understand the art of truly crafting with plants, the sentiment begins to make sense. Yes they all have their own scientifically proven medicinal actions that we benefit from understanding, but there is also an intangible layer of medicine that comes from working with the plants around us and the stories we weave into them.

Now to the formulation of the nalewka.

These tinctures are really quite simple at first glance. Their base ingredients are a neutral alcohol (usually vodka), sugar and a mixture of fruits and/or herbs. While a combination of fruits and herbs can be used, it is most common that just one single ingredient is extracted (I’m also a firm believer that some of the most minimal recipes are the most effective). The ingredients are macerated and left to infuse for weeks, months or even years at a time. From here, the variations are endless.

Some folks swear by harvesting a fruit or herb for nalewka during a specific time of year or under a particular moon phase. The amount of sugar, the source of the alcohol, the ratio of ingredients, the infusion period, even how the nalewka is bottled varies wildly.

This may be difficult for someone who likes a straightforward recipe, but I think it is freedom. There is power in trusting your intuition and senses when working with the plants.

Perhaps by now some plants who are dear to you have already popped into your mind. Maybe they would be perfect for a nalewka. There are also many traditional Slavic plants that can be used to create an even deeper connection. Some classics are:

• Anyżówka - Anise

• Morelówka - Apricot

• Porzeczkówka - Black Currants

• Wiśniówka - Cherry

• Imbirówka - Ginger

• Orzechówka - Walnut

• Śliwówka - Plum (a stronger, amber-colored version is śliwowica)

• Piołunówka - Wormwood

• Głogówka - Hawthorn

• Konwaliówkaall - Lily of the Valley

• Jałowcówka - Juniper

• Jeżynówka - Blackberry

• Pigwówka - Quince

• Cytrynowa - Lemon

• Porterwówka - Porter beer-based

• Agrest - Gooseberry

Once a formula is finished infusing, the enjoyment of the preparation is just as important as the crafting of it. Nalewki are served in little cordial glasses to be sipped after a meal. It should not be taken like a shot. This way, the flavors and complexity can be tasted and experienced fully like a fine wine. There were also special occasions such as when a nalewka would be infused on a child’s baptism then opened on their wedding day.

It is also interesting to note that the realm of nalewki is an overarching umbrella. Within the category, there are more specific variations. For example, there is a sour cherry nalewka called wiśniak often enjoyed around Christmas. There is a blend that uses honey, lemon, cinnamon and other spices called krupnik. Young maidens would also take a rose hip nalewka called zenicha kresow which combined rose hips with honey, chamomile, mint and cloves to a suitor of their choice. While each family no doubt has their own spin on these recipes, they can be a good place to draw inspiration from.

If you’re ready to start perfecting your own nalewka to pass down, you can start with this recipe and tweak it as you go.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of washed and pitted cherries

• 1 bottle of neutral spirit (500 ml / 17 oz)

• 0.5 pounds of honey (or organic sugar)

• 1/2 glass of water

Preparation:

1. Mix honey and water in the saucepan and heat for 1-2 minutes until honey dissolves.

2. Fill a jug with cherries and the honey water mixture.

3. Stir it all together.

4. Seal and store in a cool, dark place for at least 4 weeks. You can shake the jug every few days to make it even better.

5. Strain and bottle into individual bottles to enjoy or give away. The infused cherries can also be eaten, though they will be quite boozy!

A fascinating thing about preparations like these is that even if we take decades to perfect a recipe, they may still vary from year to year. Maybe the weather affected the key crop or you add a touch more honey than intended. These slight differences give life to our work.

The key takeaway of this newsletter is to remind us that the value of getting to know a few plants deeply, especially those that we have ancestral ties to, is so much more potent that getting to know dozens of plants on a surface level.

Our ancestors couldn’t always travel a great distance to get the precise herb they needed. They had to work with what was growing outside their window and within the fields. And in return, the plants bestowed them a glimpse at their deepest secrets.