Shrub & Grub
Your culinary guide to drinking and dining with shrubs.
Unique & Flavorful Pairings
Before industrial agriculture and refrigeration, fruits were often preserved with vinegar and sugar to be enjoyed outside of the growing season. The resulting preserving liquid, called a shrub, was a sweet, tart balance of the sugary fruit juice and the acidic vinegar. In Colonial America, these original shrubs were mixed with cool water and enjoyed as a summertime drink. The sweet and fruity flavors helped to refresh, while the tartness roused an appetite.
From craft cocktails in lounges, to appetite-inducing drinks in gastropubs, the complex flavors that shrubs add to drinks give mixologists a new dimension of flavors with which to work. Although there are many different variations on shrubs, ranging from “drinking vinegars” with digestive benefits, to alcoholic, cordial-style shrubs, Roland® Shrubs more closely follow the Colonial American style. They are non-alcoholic, made simply with fruit juices and vinegar—and without added sugar.
Featured Recipes
Shrubs are not only delicious in drinks; their perfectly balanced sweet-tart flavors are also excellent for cooking. To illustrate this, we explored Roland® Shrubs through the concept of a pairings menu. You will find three of our nine Shrubs used in a drink alongside a corresponding dish.
Cape Cod Ceviche
Ingredients
3 oz. Roland® Cranberry Shrub
2 tsp. Roland® Sea Salt
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
8 limes, juiced, approx. 1 cup
2 oz. dried cranberries
Zest of 2 limes, approx. 1 tsp.
1 lb. line-caught cod fillets, deboned
2 jalapeños, cut into thin rings
Directions
Serves 2
Slice cod into cubes no bigger than 1".
Heat shrub to a simmer. Poach cod in shrub for 2-3 minutes.
Remove cod, leaving liquid, and place in bowl with salt, lime juice and lime zest. Place in fridge for 1-2 hours.
Place onions and cranberries in a bowl. Pour the simmering liquid from the saucepan over onions and cranberries. Let soak at room temperature for 15 minutes, then put in fridge until the fish is ready.
When fish is ready, in a bowl, combine fish and lime mixture with the shrub/onion/cranberry mixture. Strain off the liquid, and set liquid aside.
Add the sliced jalapeños to the fish mixture. Mix together until well combined and season with salt to taste. Serve as either 4 (4 oz.) small plates or 1 shared plate in a shallow bowl.
Right before serving, drizzle about 1 Tbsp. of the reserved liquid over top of each serving of ceviche.
Cape Codder
Ingredients
2 oz. vodka
4 oz. 100% cranberry juice
1/2 oz. Roland® Cranberry Shrub
1 oz. simple syrup
club soda, to top
lime wheel, to garnish
Directions
Makes 1 (8 oz.) drink
Pour vodka, cranberry juice, shrub, and simple syrup in a highball glass over ice.
Stir until cold.
Top with club soda and garnish with a lime wheel.
Cumin Lamb Kebabs Over Couscous
Ingredients
Lamb Kebabs
1 lb. leg of lamb, cut into equal-sized cubes,
1 ½" x 1 ½" (About 15 pieces, 5 pieces per skewer)
3 Roland® 12" Bamboo Skewers
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground cardamom
½ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. ground chili
4 Tbsp. Roland® Mango Shrub
Couscous
1 cup Roland® Couscous
½ cup dried mango, cut into small pieces
½ cup cashews, toasted, chopped
1 Tbsp. Roland® Mango Shrub
1 Tbsp. Roland® Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ cup cilantro leaves
Roland® Sea Salt, to taste
Directions
Serves about 3
Soak skewers in water for about 30 minutes.
Place cubed lamb in a large dish. Mix spices together in a small bowl and sprinkle over lamb. With your hands, toss the cubes gently until evenly coated in spice blend.
Add yogurt and 4 Tbsp. shrub to the lamb cubes, and mix until evenly coated.
Cover the dish, and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Skewer the lamb by threading 5 pieces onto each skewer. Grill on medium-high heat 5-7 minutes each side, until there is a good char and the meat is cooked through.
Place couscous, dried mango and cashews in a medium-size mixing bowl.
Bring 1½ cups lightly-salted water to a boil. Pour water over couscous mixture and cover.
Allow couscous to steam under cover for 10 minutes.
When couscous in fully cooked, drizzle with the remaining 1 Tbsp. shrub, olive oil, cilantro and salt, and fluff with a fork.
Serve lamb skewers over couscous.
Mango Cilantro Lassi
Ingredients
6 oz. plain yogurt
1 cup mango, fresh or frozen
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. Roland® Mango Shrub
2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped with additional reserved for garnish
1/2 cup ice cubes
1 oz. white rum (optional)
we suggest Rhum Agricole
Directions
Makes 2 (12 oz.) drinks
Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.
To serve, pour over ice in 2 highball glasses or other tall glass.
Garnish with a sprig of cilantro.
Pan-Fried Pork Chops with Pomegranate Gastrique
Ingredients
2 cups water
2 Tbsp. Roland® Olive Oil
4 tea bags, black tea
Roland® Sea Salt, Fine Crystals, to taste
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
Ground black pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns
Pomegranate seeds, to garnish
1/2 cup Roland® Pomegranate Shrub
2 pork chops, thick cut, bone in,
approx. 1 lb. per chop
10" cast iron skillet
Directions
Serves 2
To brine pork chops, combine hot water, tea bags, salt, peppercorns and shrub in a heat-proof bowl and steep until cool. Do not add pork chops until the mixture is cool.
Add the pork chops to the brine mixture, cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours.
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Remove pork chops from brine, pat dry and season with sea salt and ground pepper.
Heat cast iron skillet to medium-high heat. Add olive oil.
Sear pork chops on one side for about 5 minutes, then flip and repeat.
Remove from flame and cook in the oven for about 10 minutes. Cook to medium or an internal temperature of at least 145ºF.
Remove pork chop from skillet and let rest for 10 minutes.
While pork rests, deglaze the skillet with 1/4 cup shrub. Over low heat, let pan sauce reduce for about 5 minutes.
To serve, pour the gastrique from pan over pork chops. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.
Sweet & Sour Pomegranate Iced Tea
Ingredients
4 cups water
2 Tbsp. Roland® Pomegranate Shrub
4 tea bags, black tea
2 oz. whiskey (optional)
1/2 cup Roland® White Sugar Cubes
Directions
Makes 2 (10-12 oz.) drinks
Using a container that can withstand boiling water, pour 4 cups boiling water
over the 4 tea bags and sugar, and let steep until ready, about 3-5 minutes.
Fill a zombie glass with ice cubes and pour sweetened tea over top, leaving a
small amount of extra room. Top each drink with a 1 Tbsp. float of shrub and serve.
Optional: To make it boozy, pour a shot of whiskey per drink over the ice before adding the tea. Pour the tea and stir until well-combined, top with shrub.