Although I couldn’t find anyone, even in the remote hill villages, that would sell me their home-made rum, Reunion is an island of rum drinkers. Flavoured rums are the order of the day as aperitifs or with coffee, and they call these “rhum arrange”. They take the white spirit (made in quantities on the island’s various commercial distilleries, like Charette) and by maceration infuse it with flavours of fruits, vanilla, ginger and cinnamon.
You can also sample very smooth wood aged rums, usually three years in oak, and I must say that my daily rum shot helped cure me of the mistrust and mild dread that labels like Red Heart and Captain Morgan instill. And no, there’s no smell on the skin the next day. I’m pretty sure this is the result of the flavourants and caramel colourants that the cheap stuff is laced with.
Vanilla is an important crop on the island, so here’s the “rhum vanille” recipe:
Take one litre rum and add 5 heaped teaspoons brown sugar. Now add 5 sticks of vanilla and keep your hands off it for two months.
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