Waldmeister ice cream ()
Have you ever looked up an unfamiliar German word in a dictionary, only to find its English translation leaving you every bit as baffled as you were to begin with?
That might well be the case if you were to look up the word “Waldmeister.” It turns out this stuff is woodruff. Great. But what on earth is woodruff?
Waldmeister = Woodruff
Woodruff, it turns out, is a flowering plant native to much of Europe, from Ireland to Spain and as far east as Siberia. Although it grows in the wild, it is also widely cultivated for its flowers and sweet-smelling leaves. The plant owes its unique and pleasing smell to an aromatic organic chemical compound known as coumarin, an odor that’s also associated with vanilla beans and cassia cinnamon.
Woodruff looks back upon a rich history of use in medicine and religious ceremony, and even today, it finds its way into a variety of German drinks and foodstuffs. As it can be toxic in large doses, it’s always best to exercise moderation in its use in natural form.
Here are just a couple of places to be on the lookout for this taste so unfamiliar to American taste buds:
Ice cream stands: Waldmeister is one of the more intriguing flavors you’ll find as an option for your next scoop of gelato.
Beer: in the beer gardens of Berlin, a common treat is a weisse, a sourish wheat beer. To sweeten it up, the bright green woodruff syrup is often added. This beer is served with a straw, enabling the drinker to swirl the syrup around in it. To try this at home (where else in these crazy times?), reach for the beer known as a Berliner Kindl Weisse Waldmeister.
Candy: Waldmeister is a flavor option in many types of hard candies and the ever-popular gummy bear. Stands selling hard candies at Christmas markets will offer this among their more adventurous options.
Tea: Waldmeister tea is used a remedy for headaches and migraine, as well as insomnia.
Maibowle cocktails: on April 30, Germans across the land stay up late to engage in a tradition known as Tanz in den Mai, or dancing into the month of May. A common drink on this night upon which, legend holds, the restless witches fly, is a Maibowle. To concoct a hefty portion of this tasty punch all for yourself this year, add two or three spoonfuls of Waldmeister syrup to one bottle of dry white wine and half a bottle of sparkling white wine (Sekt). Add a spoonful of brown sugar and one stem each of fresh mint and lemon balm (Zitronenmelisse), along with a couple slices of lemon. Enjoy chilled, secure in the knowledge that spring has sprung and the best months of the year lie just ahead of us, despite this vexing curve ball we’ve been thrown.
So, now you know! Waldmeister is delicous.
