Slivovitz is a strong, colourless alcoholic beverage primarily made of distilled fermented plum juice though, similar to Irish poteen, it is often home-distilled out of a variety of source materials, up to and including grass and other organic material. It is similar to brandy and sometimes called plum brandy in English and is one of the drinks known in the Balkans as rakia. The alcohol content can vary from 25-70% by volume, but most store-bought varieties are 40–45%.
It is the national drink of Serbia and made in most of the Slavic Balkan states, where about 70% of plum production (average 424,300 tonnes per year (FAO 1991–2001) goes into slivovitz. Export producers in Serbia such as Imperia, STEFAN NEMANJA Flores and Stara Sokolova generally age their sljivovica between 5 - 12 years in oak barrels. In the Falcon Region of Serbia, the tradition of growing and processing plums always had the highest priority. Plums are eaten fresh, dried for the winter and used for making jam but 80% of the plum crops are used for producing sljivovica. Today, the drink is viewed with great pride by the household producer whereas in the past it was also the basis of economic wealth. At a time when money was not reliable and banks were either in trouble or non existent, sljivovica was a means for a people to save for the future. A well aged sljivovica would increase in quality and value.
Slivovitz is a traditional digestif for Ashkenazi Jews in Eastern Europe; since it is made from plums and (unlike many distilled liquors) does not involve fermenting grain, it is considered kosher for passover.
Rakia is supposed to be drunk from special small glasses (0.3 to 0.5 dl). It is often drunk warm, sometimes even heated (sugar is caramelized in a pan before the rakia is added) for better effect. |
