Illegal in the UK, but in Portugal the distilling of alcohol at home is legal but only for own consumption. So we decided to try.

You need a still  

 

And some fruit - in this case the fruit of the strawberry tree - Arbutus unedo - of which there are hundreds on the hills around us.

 

The fruit ripens in the Autumn months and parties of people appear in trucks setting off for the hillsides to spend the day picking. Something like blackberrry picking used to take up an Autumn afternoon with a picnic in the UK years ago. The fruit is then packed into covered pans and left to ferment until January or February when it is put through the still and a clear liquid appears.

It is very strong and only drunk in very small quantities but it keeps them going on cold winter evenings in the hillsides. We picked the fruit and made our own and frankly when we did a taste test between the commercial product and our own, ours came out marginally better. Marginally because it is quite definitely an acquired taste! Probably something that takes years of practice and perhaps that is why they make it!

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