I’ve been meaning to share this awesome recipe for a few months. Not that it’s really a recipe, more of an idea as you only need two ingredients and there’s no need for exact amounts.
I love all things fermented and had seen this idea popping up on social media over the past few years and had always meant to try it out, but it wasn’t until I saw a chef on a tv show recently using the syrup and garlic in a dish and realised I had a ton of our homegrown organic garlic and some local raw honey at hand that I finally got around to giving it a go. It’s now something I know I’ll be making every winter-spring, even if I’m the only family member brave enough to take the resulting garlicky ‘cough syrup’. I’ve always been one to take something if I know it’s good for me, even if it’s doesn’t taste that, but this in my opinion, is delicious!
It’s at this time of the year, where if you’re lucky enough to still have local (or homegrown) garlic at hand and you’ve already planted out as much as you can, that your bulbs will be starting to sprout… so you may be looking for ways to preserve them or use them up? If so, I shared this Preserved Garlic in Extra-Virgin Olive Oil recipe years ago that you might want to check out, it’s still one of the most popular recipes on this site.
Fermented Honey + Garlic Cough Syrup
Ingredients
- raw honey
- organic local garlic peeled
Instructions
- Place garlic into a large lidded jar, cover generously with honey, pop the lid on and set aside at room temperature for at least 2 weeks. Give it a stir every day or two for the first week, to keep the garlic coated in honey (they float on the top of the honey until about week two). After the first day or two things will get bubbly, this is good. As the garlic + honey ferments, the honey turns to liquid. After two weeks (or longer if you’d like to leave it longer) you can take the resulting garlic-infused honey as a cough syrup or natural immune-booster. And don’t chuck out the garlic! Chop it up and add it to salad dressings.It will store in a lidded jar in a dark pantry indefinitely.
11 Responses
Lovely. 🥰 I have had some in the cupboard for about 4 years, it is rich and dark and very potent!
I also make ginger and honey, the ginger is delicious after a few months, sage honey, fantastic for colds, thyme honey….so good on sourdough and citrus honey. ❤️❤️
Oh yum, ginger honey sounds AMAZING! I’ll have to try that next. Gosh I can only imagine how lovely yours must be after 4 years! Mine has had about 4 months 🙂 I’ve been making thyme honey for years and love it for sore throats, will have to try sage too. Thanks for the tips xx
Would it be possible to make a powerhouse combo of these things? Ginger, garlic, thyme and honey for example. Or would mixing them affect the shelf life?
I think that would be a great idea! I’m definitely going to try a ginger version next time x
This I’m going to try. Like you, I’ve seen it a lot of places but never tried it…. I think its time to change that! Thank you thank you thank you for the inspiration.
You’re welcome! It’s so damn easy you too will be wishing you’d tried it earlier 🙂 x
Oooh, can I add one thing? We just moved to a new place and my eldest (4 yrs) started itching all the time. Nothing had changed but our location (completely across the country) so I started giving him spoonfuls of local honey and there’s no more itching and scratching now. Yay! The apiarist said she doesn’t filter out the local pollen or anything, so I attribute this acclimation to her honey. Honey has such benefits.
That’s awesome! Honey is magical stuff, especially if you can source local raw stuff 🙂
Oh I’ve never heard of thyme honey or ginger honey either. But I could definitely use something for sore throats in the fall/ winter. I’m glad you two were talking about that.
Love that 🙂 You might also like to check out my post from last year for Immune-Boosting Hibiscus and Thyme Tea where I shared a bunch of natural ways I use to beat a cold https://www.mydarlinglemonthyme.com/2018/09/immune-boosting-hibiscus-thyme-tea-and-some-of-my-favourite-natural-cold-fighting-home-remedies.html XX
Garlic and Honey both are very helpful for good health, when both ingredient will mixed, it will be best natural remedy. Thanks for sharing very helpful article.