Fire Cider

Fire cider is a spicy, homemade tonic. It uses unpasturized apple cider vinegar to extract minerals and alcaloids from immune-stimulating ingredients. This simple recipe has been made famous by Rosemary Gladstar, a well-known American herbalist, who wanted to show people how easy it was to make medecine in your own kitchen using accessible and affordable ingredients. Let’s take a look at some of those ingredients.

Garlic (Allium sativum), onion (Allium cepa) and horse radish (Armoracia rusticana) are some of the key ingredients. These three plants are rich in a variety of minerals and vitamins as well as in organo-sulphur compounds which play an important rôle in liver function [1]. In addition they all have antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties [2, 3, 4]. Other ingredients can include ginger, tumeric root, chili peppers, citrus fruit, spices and herbs.

Honey is used to sweeten the fire cider. It is an extremely complex product containing a number of amino acids, minerals, vitamins and enzymes [5]. The quantity and quality of these composants will vary depending on the plant the bee has collected nectar from, and the treatment and storage of the honey. The less the honey is processed, the higher the quantity and quality of the bioactive and antioxidant compounds.

Apple cider vinegar, known for its antibacterial and antimicrobial properties [6], is used to extract minerals and alcaloids from the above ingredients. The word « vinegar » comes from two French words : « vin » and « aigre », meaning sour wine. Apple cider vinegar goes through the same two stages of fermentation as wine to produce vinegar. Firstly, alcoholic fermentation converts apples into cider. Then acetic acid bacteria transform the alcohol into acetic acid, giving the vinegar its distinctive taste. Acetic acid makes up approximately 5% of the final product with water, organic acids, vitamins and minerals constituting the other 95%.

Due to the popularity of fire cider, particularly in North America, there are now many different versions of the original recipe. Here is the recipe I use which you can adapt to your own tastes and to the availability of products in your own kitchen.

RECIPE

Material:

A jar which can be

A knife

A chopping Board

Ingredients:

1 onion

1 head of garlic

1 horse radish (or black radish, if horse radishes are not available in your region)

2 tablespoons of grated ginger

1 small chili pepper

A cinnamon stick

Unpasturised apple cider vinegar

Honey (preferably local and unpasturised)

Additional ingredients (depending on your tastes): herbs (e.g. thyme, rosemary, sage), citrus fruits (e.g. lemon, orange – preferably organic), spices (e.g. pepper, cumin, coriander, cloves, cardamom, star anise)

Method:

1. Cut up all the ingredients into small pieces and place into the jar. If you use citrus fruit which is organic you can leave the skin on, otherwise peel the fruit.

2. Once you have filled the jar to roughly 2cm below the top, pour in the apple cider vinegar ensuring that all of the ingredients are completely covered.

3. Leave the ingredients to macerate in a dark place at room temperature for a month, gently shaking the mix every day.

4. After a month, filter the mix and add honey to taste. You may need to slightly heat the honey for it to dissolve.

5. Pour the fire cider into a bottle with a cover that will not oxidise in contact with vinegar, label with the date and store in a cool, dark place.

A teaspoon of fire cider can be taken each day throughout the winter. If needbe, this can be diluted, depending on your tastes. It can also be used in salad sauces.

Fire cider should not be taken if you are suffering from stomach ulcers, kidney failure or if you are pregnant or breast-feeding. It is also not suitable for young children.

It’s a simple and fun recipe to make, so why not give it a go ?

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[1] Milito A & al., (2019) Natural Sulfur-Containing Compounds: An Alternative Therapeutic Strategy against Liver Fibrosis. Cells. .

[2] Ansary J & al., (2020) Potential Health Benefit of Garlic Based on Human Intervention Studies: A Brief Overview. Antioxidants (Basel)

[3] Chakraborty AJ, & al., (2022) Allium cepa : A Treasure of Bioactive Phytochemicals with Prospective Health Benefits. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med.

[4] Yasmeen, A. & al., (2021). PHYTOCHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF ARMORACIA RUSTICANA. International Journal of Pharmacy & Integrated Health Sciences.

[5] Eteraf-Oskouei T, Najafi M. (2013) Traditional and modern uses of natural honey in human diseases : a review. Iran J Basic Med Sci.

[6] Ousaaid, D & al., (2021) Antifungal and Antibacterial Activities of Apple Vinegar of Different Cultivars, International Journal of Microbiology