Petimezi - Grape must

One ordering blind spot for us seems to be grapes for cheese boards, always too many, way too many

Usually they end up slowly drying out in the fridge or forming a furry coating before they are consigned to the compost

With this years post Christmas grape glut we decided to make grape must or petimezi which was used as a natural sweeter in Greece and as a cheaper substitute to honey

First juice your grapes and pass the mixture through a doubled cheese cloth

Put the juice into a pan and bring to the boil, loads of froth will form

Using a ladel scoop up the froth and discard, continue through the whole process

Reduce the mixture until it reaches a honey consistancy, this is called hepsetos, you can go further and get a more intense flavour which was called hepsema

Use as you would honey or maple syrup in puddings, on your breakfast, as a sweetener for dressings, as a glaze for roasted vegetables