We have had our Fire Cider No. 1 in the market for almost two years now and we get a couple of questions every time. What is it? Where does it come from? We thought it about time to write this story and tell you all the long of it. At first glance you all might read Fire Cider and think chilli but that isn’t it. Then you’d probably think spicy and that isn’t it either. Not quite. For us at Kuninda a fire cider is, first and foremost, what gets the fire in your belly going.
However, like most things Kuninda, it is never just what it appears to be, on the surface. The story is always an old one.
We came across fire ciders one winter afternoon. Kabir had read something somewhere and eventually got his hands on an old french book on vinegars and mustards which was written at some time in the1800s. Radhika’s few-year stint in France came in handy here and a rough translation was reached of this one specific legend. T story of the Four Thieves of Marseilles. Now you must be saying, “What on Earth do four thieves in Marseilles have to do with Fire Cider!“ but bear with us, we shall explain.
Now where were we….. Yes, the story of the four thieves and with it a recipe. Now the tale was told a little something like this: Think France, in the late 1700s, the port city of Marseilles, the seat of most of the trade in France. Prosperous, bustling with life and crime and money and wine. When all of a sudden a pestilence begins to ravage the city. People where dropping like flies, quarantines were issued, fear and horror filled the dreams and waking hours of all, death seemed to be at every door. The air filled with smoke, an oppressive air of doom and despair. Les medecins moved through the streets wearing masks and cloaks which would instil more terror than hope.
In the midst of this horror show, the citoyens while struggling to survive and trying to give their loved ones, who were brutally struck down by the disease, some dignity in death discovered that when they went to bury their dead the graves of previously passed on relatives had been dug up and robbed. Quelle horreur! Every time a few fresh graves dug up. Who could be doing such a terrible thing and moreover surviving, not catching the dreaded plague? Everyone wondered to no avail. The hunt for the grave diggers became more a distraction. An outrage they could catch perhaps, to have some feeling of control in these outrageous times. The days rolled into months which rolled into years…..
One smokey morning Marseilles awoke but something was different to that day. The thieves who had plagued the dead had finally been caught! The excitement however, wasn’t so much about the capture of the thieves but about the mystery being solved. About finally getting answers.
Citizens flocked to the courthouse. The magistrate was in no mood for tom foolery, he wanted answers and he wanted them immediately. And so he put it straight to them, “Give me the secret to your health and you never catching the plague despite having been knee deep in all the muck and slime of the dead and I will consider a lighter sentence for the grief you have caused. If not then to the gallows, all four of you.”
The four thieves looked at one another, knowing and agreeing on what needed to be done in that moment. They confessed their secret, the recipe of an elixir, an infusion of apple cider vinegar which included ingredients such as stinging nettle, (bichhoo kanta), absinthe and camphor (among others).
At the end of the legend in the 18th century book of fermentation, mustards and vinegars was a recipe, in great detail, called “Recettes du vinaigre des quatre voleurs”. As it was recounted in the book, the thieves merely took a dose (30 to 45ml) of this infusion every day and voila, it kept them fit as horses. The first immunity boosting cure all claim in recorded history, if you will.
Now how could one possibly ignore such an exciting tale. We had to learn more and read more and so we did. We dove deep into the world of infused vinegars across cultures and histories and the like. Apparently it had a life of its own. Then in the ‘60s and ‘70s a more widespread understanding and appreciation of these experiments and concoctions was observed. The popularisation happened which saw professional and amateur naturalists and herbalists experimenting with all sorts of local ingredients, putting together not only delicious flavours but high medicinal value. And as we well know, everything in nature when consumed in the right quantities coupled with the right combinations has benefits, even poison is a medicine of sorts in the correct dose. At the peak of this renaissance the term fire cider was coined by herbalist Rosemary Gladstar. (For those of you interested in knowing more should pick up a wonderful book called “Fire Cider! 101 Zesty Recipes for Health-Boosting Remedies Made with Apple Cider Vinegar” by Rosemary Gladstar and Friends).
There you have it. Now you know where this product line found its origins. We could ramble on about the nuances, pleasures and absolute wonders we came across on our journey but perhaps it is best to leave it for a later date. It is a thrilling journey we have only just embarked on, we hope you join it as well. And as and when we come up with more we will be sure to share it with you. Till then good luck and above all else have fun.