In the Caucasus, a dogwood bush is a symbol of endurance. Its beneficial properties have been known since ancient times. Indeed, thanks to its composition, you will be able to keep your body toned throughout the long winter months. And if you came from a severe frost frozen and tired, the cornel tincture will bring you back to life, and the next day you won’t even remember what you consumed, even if you went over a little of this most valuable and delicious drink.
Dogwood plant description
The people call the bush of dogwood is also called turf and shaitan tree, it can grow in the form of a tree. The name translated from Turkish means "red". In nature, it can only be found in the mountains of the Caucasus, but it began to be cultivated throughout the south of Europe, even in France.
The height of the bush can reach 5 meters, the crown is sprawling or oval in shape. Dogwood blooms with small golden flowers, collected in an umbrella of 15-20 pieces, in March-April. A feature of the plant is that a comfortable flowering temperature is 15 ° C. But if it gets colder, and the temperature drops below +8, the flowers close and wait. Only warmed to a comfortable temperature, they continue their flowering.
The most valuable and healing part of the plant is the fruit. Juicy and fleshy drupes of an oval form with sweet and sour taste. If you have tried cornel jam at least once, then you will no longer confuse the taste and aroma with any other. A cornel tincture has the same pronounced taste and aroma.
Dogwood legend
There is a legend that Allah began to give every person a plant. Someone got a peach, someone got a cherry. And the cunning Shaitan grabbed a dogwood bush. Its logic was simple: it blooms early, one of the first, which means that the fruits will appear early. But how did he miscalculate.
Already the summer was drawing to a close, and the berries all remained firm and astringent. Shaitan was angry and began to blow on the bush with a flame, trying to burn. The berries turned bright red, but continued to be acidic and hard.
“Muck, not a plant,” shaitan growled. - "Take it to yourself!" And in late autumn, he bit his elbows, because people began to collect juicy and ripe berries from the bush. In retaliation for having so missed himself, he cast a spell on the bush, forcing him to bear fruit even more. Now if the dogwood gives a rich harvest, wait for a fierce, frosty winter.
But frosts are not terrible if the entire crop is harvested and the cornelian tincture is ready, which will warm the body and the soul.
Dogwood berry: composition and calorie content
Proteins and fats in the berry are contained, as well as easily digestible carbohydrates, dietary fibers that normalize digestion, and fruit acids (including rare amber), flavonoids and essential oils, phytoncides.
A large amount of vitamin C will help strengthen immunity, and you can easily cope with any cold and flu, this vitamin is also involved in hematopoiesis, because with its lack of iron is very poorly absorbed. There is also vitamin P (rutin) in the berry. And how many macro- and microelements in the cornel fruit are so needed by the body! Iron and calcium, sodium and potassium, phosphorus and magnesium, sulfur. Without them, any human organ cannot function normally.
It does not threaten you to recover if there is dogwood in reasonable quantities, because the calorie content of 100 grams is only 45 kcal.
When the cornelian tincture is prepared, all the useful substances are preserved and pass into alcohol or vodka. It depends on what you insist on. So what diseases will help to cure dogwood tincture?
Useful properties of cornel berries
The berry contains more ascorbic acid than blackcurrant. Phytoncides have an antibacterial property, being a natural antibiotic. Eat berry regularly and you will protect your body from various viruses and bacteria. And besides this, volatile production helps remove heavy metal salts and other substances that poison the human body.
If there is a problem with the digestive tract, then dogwood can be prescribed for you with a prescription. After all, berries have the following effects:
- improve appetite;
- solve the problem of indigestion;
- normalize the level of acidity;
- remove heartburn.
Dogwood will be useful to those who struggle with excess weight, as well as those who follow the figure. With the help of berries, you can normalize metabolic processes, including fat. Tonic properties are another of the properties of cornel berries.
If you have problems with the circulatory system, then you simply must use dogwood. After all, with its help you can solve the following problems:
- normalize blood composition by increasing hemoglobin;
- strengthen the weak walls of blood vessels;
- normalize the pressure.
With diabetes, dogwood is also useful. After all, it lowers blood sugar and enhances the release of enzymes by the pancreas.
In the Middle Ages, they already knew the ability of dogwood to treat such terrible ailments as typhoid and dysentery. But in those days, these diseases claimed many human lives.
The astringent properties of the berry help solve problems such as diarrhea and diarrhea.
Naturally, the most useful substances are found in fresh berries, but even after cooking it remains a lot. And what a great taste and aroma of various tinctures and cornel drinks! And while all the useful properties are saved.
How to cook dogwood
Dogwood tincture of vodka in the common people is called dogwood tincture, it's easy to prepare it. To do this, you will need:
- half a kilo of ripe dogwood;
- 750 g of vodka.
Sort and rinse the fruits under running water, place them in a 2-liter jar and use a crush to turn them into pulp, pour vodka on them and place them out of the reach of sunlight for a month. Strain the resulting tincture through cheesecloth. Very often, even after filtering, a precipitate remains, which can be eliminated by passing the tincture through cheesecloth.
This is the simplest recipe for cornel vodka tincture. If you add 100 g of sugar there, the acid from the berries will become softer. The result is a 25 percent cornel coring. It is drunk more gently, but the body receives much more calories from it.
Alcohol tincture
A strong drink that instantly warms you if you come home very frozen is a cornel tincture for alcohol. It is done easily. The washed dogwood berries are placed in a container until they stop, the remaining space is filled with 96 percent alcohol. After about three months, the dogwood tincture is ready, it is time to take the first test.
With this method, all the beneficial properties of dogwood are preserved. To increase the therapeutic effect, alcohol tincture can be sweetened with honey, but not more than one tablespoon per liter.
Moonshine tincture
Cornel tincture on moonshine is also very original and tastes good. Her recipe is also simple, and the properties are preserved. To prepare it, you will need:
- 800 ml of homemade moonshine with a 50 ° strength;
- 600 g of ripe fruits;
- 150 grams of granulated sugar.
We sort, wash and dry the berries, place them in a suitable container, fill with moonshine, tightly cork, shake and place in a dark place. It would be nice to shake occasionally.
After 3 weeks, the hood should be passed through cheesecloth to remove cake and seeds from the drink. Add sugar to the solution and leave it alone for another seven days.
The resulting drink is easy to drink, the absence of a hangover the next day is guaranteed.
Original dogwood snack
You have a recipe for cornel tincture, you just have to figure out how to have a bite to make it tasty and healthy. You can cook Polish "olives" from green dogwood berries. History knows of cases where Jewish merchants in Poland mixed such "olives" with real ones, making big profits. So, take the green fruits of dogwood and place in a glass bowl, add oak leaves, thyme and garlic cloves to taste. All this is poured with brine at the rate of 10 g of salt for each liter of water and left for 4 weeks.
After a month, we drain the water, and hold the berries for several minutes in boiling water, then put it in a jar again and fill it with boiling vegetable oil (it would be better if it is olive) with herbs that you prefer. Poles did with thyme. Now it remains only to wait a couple of weeks until the cornel berries become spicy. The appetizer is ready, it's time to amaze your friends.