Horilka
Type | Alcoholic beverage |
---|---|
Place of origin | Ukraine |
Region or state | Eastern Europe |
Main ingredients | Water, alcohol |
Variations | Flavoured vodka, nastoianka |
122kcal per 50ml kcal | |
Horilka (Ukrainian: горілка; Belarusian: гарэлка; Romanian: horincă) is a Ukrainian alcoholic beverage.
The word horilka may also be used in a generic sense in the
It is believed that horilka was not as strong as today with about 20 percent alcohol by volume (40
Derivatives
Ukrainian tradition has also produced various derivatives of horilka. Some of these are available as commercial products, but most are typically home-made. This includes various kinds of fruit infusion, nalyvka and spiced ; it is then named horilka z pertsem, or pertsivka (one should be mindful of the usage: horilka z pertsem refers to horilka bottled with hot chilli peppers, whereas pertsivka typically refers to horilka spiced with the essence of pepper). Medova z pertsem is the combination of horilka with chili peppers and honey.
Most of these preparations are aged with fruit for several weeks or months, then strained or decanted. Some recipes call for the jars to be placed on the rooftop, for maximum bleaching by the sun. Many include the addition of home-made syrup for a strong
Traditions
Horilka plays a role in traditional weddings in Ukraine.[4]
And bring us a lot of horilka, but not of that fancy kind with raisins, or with any other such things — bring us horilka of the purest kind, give us that demon drink that makes us merry, playful and wild!
Etymology
The word horilka is attested in 1562 (горилка) and 1678 (горѣлка). Dialectic variants are harilka, horilash, horilytsya, horilets’, horilukha, zghorivka, zorivka, orilka, as well as
The word comes from the same root as the verb hority, ‘to burn’, similarly to
Pertsivka
A pertsivka or horilka z pertsem (English: pepper flavoured horilka) is the most widely associated type of horilka outside of Ukraine. It is made with whole fruits of capsicum put into the bottle, turning horilka into a sort of bitters. Sometimes pertsivka can be made also using honey, which is then called pertsivka z medom or medova z pertsem (honey-pepper flavoured horilka). Nemiroff is a Ukrainian brand actively promoting pepper horilka worldwide through the heavy use of product placement in cinema.[7][citation needed] The brand and company don't have long traditions but pertsivka production itself does.
Production of horilka
Horilka that is bottled and sold by companies is usually distilled from wheat or rye.[8] Horilka may also contain honey or be distilled from honey, or contain chili peppers, mint or birch bud.[9] The self-distilled alcoholic beverage is called samohon and is the homemade variety of horilka, akin to moonshine.
Brands
References
- ^ a b c Malko, Romko. "Ukrainian Horilka — more than just an alcoholic beverage". Welcome to Ukraine Magazine. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ Greenall, Robert. "Ukraine and ancient Rus". greenallrussia.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2006. Retrieved 6 December 2006.
- ^ "Міцні напої: як називають їх українці". Майдан (in Ukrainian). 2023-01-23. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
- ^ Kononenko, Natalie (1998). "Traditional Ukrainian Wedding Rituals". Brama-Gateway Ukraine. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- Ukrainian Academy of Science.
- ^ Rudnyc’kyj, J (1972). An Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language, vol 1 (A–G), pp 693–4. Winnipeg: Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences.
- ^ "Lady Gaga For Nemiroff Vodka". gappster.com. 15 November 2009. Archived from the original on 22 November 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Horilka: A bit of history and some interesting facts". bestofukraine.com. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ Example of horilka made from grain: "Soft" horilka advertisement. "standard horilka distilled from grain and "soft" mineral water Archived 2013-10-20 at the Wayback Machine, from the Olimp website"
External links
- Media related to Ukrainian horilka at Wikimedia Commons
- The dictionary definition of horilka at Wiktionary
- Ukrainian Alcoholic Beverages