Scenes from a village 25 - Village alchemy (HD)

(film 24 - In search of Janko Fudurić will be posted at a later date)

As the year heads towards the Autumn Equinox and the days further contract there is a stiring in the orchard. This is the time when thoughts turn towards that ancient art of alchemy that is a particular phenomena in the village. The dark art of distilling deep purple fruits is one of the greatest of all village mysteries. It is the transformation of water into fire.

After five fairly dormant years some of the aging plum trees in our orchard burst into life again. We watched as branches became laden with fruit and it soon became clear that we would need advice from a village elder.

Fortunately, Tona was on hand to offer guidance as to the most efficacious method of removing the fruit from the tree. And in no time we had loaded up the tractor with two barrels filled with plums which then went up the hill to be milled.

Meanwhile, in a darkened room under Bara's house, Tihomir ,too, is putting 2 barrels of plums through the mill. Across the whole village there is fervent activity, it seems that many trees this year have been particularly fruitful.

Back at Tona's the reduced pulp is returned to the barrel and left for 3 weeks for the magic to start working.

Finally, after 22 days the lid is lifted from our barrel of plums. Tona skims off the top layer and after a thorough stiring the true colour of the fruit is revealed. The cauldron holds about 30-35 litres of liquid. From here the mixture is heated and the resulting steam passes through this pipe which coils round the inside of a barrel of water cooling the steam to leave just a trickle of brandy emerging at the other end.

Further down in the valley Tihomir is already offering his own distillation to try...and the verdict.

The first few drops of brandy to emerge are by far the strongest and as the process continues it become progressively diluted. Regular measurements are taken until the entire mix has achieved an alcohol level of about 44%. At that point the cauldron is emptied and refilled and the fire started again.

From this one barrel, about 70 litres of liquid, 12 litres of pure plum brandy were made, as if by magic

Category:

Entertainment

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• fuduric
• fudurić
• domsic
• domšić
• marisic
• marišić
• zvecaj
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• mreznica
• mrežnica
• gornje bukovlje
• croatia
• andrew norris
• earth works
• village life
• distilling plum brandy
• slivovica
• šlivovica

[j42brklyn]

Real la familia:)

[andrewnorris2]

@j42brklyn Thanks

[xyzllii]

As usual..beautifully done and interesting.

[andrewnorris2]

@xyzllii As usual...I thank you for your visit.

[jilldbarker]

Fascinating - and so informative! Thank you for sending it to me, and for making it in the first place. I always believed that distilling was terribly dangerous - but your helpful guy seemed very confident. Re my pear tree blog - I wrote it a while ago, before I had embarked on the whole 'blogs can have photos' experiment.

[pnm1941]

TRULY THE WORK OF A MASTER VIDEO MAKER! YOURSELF! I CANT GET ENOUGH OF YOUR VILLAGE VIDEOS! THANKS!

[pnm1941]

Dear Andrew,

The video is a delight for the eyes, and your commentary is sheer poetry, a treat for the ears!I can never get enough of your village videos of which you are a true Master!!

[andrewnorris2]

@violetparme Thanks so much for your diligence, it is great to feel that people are working behind the scenes offering help, it is much appreciated. Someone else thought it might be a cinnabar moth which does look very similar but maybe your moth is the one. Thanks again.

[violetparme]

@MultiVerseUniVerse @MultiVerseUniVerse I wouldn't like to seem pretentious but erm...that looks very much like a "six-spot burnet" to me ; erm... , you can also call it Zygaena Filipendulae! ( ' don't know anything about butterflies... just wanted to find out as you were asking; mere curiosity; so , if that can help ..) Thank you google!!!! ; )

[MissJezebel61]

I was just looking at this vid again+thinking of where I used to live when I was married..we lived on the edge of the park facing a children's home..in the grounds a giant big plum tree!..so much fruit! Non of the staff picked them for the kids so we'd go out at night,me in a long skirt+my husband with a big stick in his hand,shake the tree+I'd collect them in my skirt..lol then I had to do the Ministry Of Silly walks across the road back to the flat,+pray the neighbours didn't see me..lol xx;)

[cooper68ns]

@andrewnorris1 I sure was ,if only in mind and spirit and not body,come to think of it.Its probably the best part of me anyway.lool:).