pix by richard

chunky home-made lemon and kumquat cordial

- zest and juice of three or four large lemons
- four washed kumquats quartered with skin still on (small manderins work well too)
- 1 to 2 cups of white sugar (depends how sweet your tooth is)
- 1 dessert spoon of citric acid
- around 400mls water

Extrapolate amounts depending on the number of lemons you have. 3-4 large lemons should make around 750mls of cordial. 

Put all ingredients in a pot and bring gently to the boil while stirring. Mmm, smells good. Boil for about 5 minutes. Now turn off the heat and allow mixture to cool - it’s the cooling not the heating which creates the colour and flavour! When at room temperature put the pot of cordial mixture in the fridge and let it cool until chilled.

To bottle the cordial, pour the mixture through a strainer into a pouring jug. Then pour cordial from the jug into clean glass bottles. Your strainer will be left holding a fragrant combination of zest and kumquat quarters. With a tea spoon add a little zest and some of the kumquat quarters into the bottles with the cordial mixture until it looks kinda pretty.

To drink, add a little cordial to chilled water or soda water in a glass. Makes a tasty, tart drink - heaps better than any cordial you will ever buy from a supermarket. It won’t keep forever so store in the fridge and drink within a few weeks.