Betty & Huy have been making homemade products well before settling at Domaine Sérénité but their skill sets are reaching the high-end at the farm.
They are particularly interested in fermented products: yogurts, cheese, bread (sourdough), kombucha are their staple, along with butter and lately soap and hydrosol!
Sourdough bread is made in the traditional way, rising yeast from scratch. As you may know good quality bread is a must in any French home, as is cheese.
Our soft spiced and fresh cheeses
Cottage cheese in progress
Kombucha is a delicious fermented green tea drink. It not only tastes delicious (slightly acidic with < 1% alcohol content) but it also has anti oxidant properties and is full of probiotic microorganisms. We brew it in 8L batches at the farm. If you would like to read more about Kombucha, click here, and of course when you come for a visit, do not hesitate to ask for a tasting
When the kombucha is fermented well, it becomes a refreshing, healthy and bubbly drink, perfect for summer time.
Butter is an interesting dairy product that is surprisingly easy to make! All you need is cream and a whisk. The result is so much tastier that what you can find in the shops!
Whisking the cream
Once the butterfat separate from the milk, drain the (now) butter in cold water
Tada!
Soap however, is a complete different story. It is a lengthly process – if you are lucky you may try a sample if you stay at cottage Goji!
The finished products you may try at cottage Goji
Our latest addition is hydrosol, also loosely called floral water, through steam distillation of our lavender, geranium and thyme fresh flowers and leaves organically grown on our farm.
Diagram from https://cathyskipper.wordpress.com/ blog.
How does it work? In a copper still, water is heated to create steam, which rises and goes through the plant material, bursting the sacks containing the essences. Light aromatic and volatile molecules are carried along by the steam into a coil surrounded with cold water (condenser), and are then condensed. The steam converts back into liquid released at the end of the process in the form of a hydrosol and in certain cases, essential oil as well.
Benefits of hydrosols. Hydrosols can be taken both internally and externally and are very safe and unaggressive to mucus membranes. They are perfect for gentle or long-term treatments and are great skin toners. Thyme hydrosol is antiseptic, bactericidal, stimulant, tonic, anti rheumatic, diuretic, geranium hydrosol is a softener, lightener, hydrator; useful for sunburns, rosacea, rashes; slows or stops bleeding for clean cuts and wounds, lavender hydrosol reduces all types of skin irritation and inflammation, regenerative effects on damaged, fragile or severely burnt skin, is great for acne, rashes, insect bites, face and aftershave toner.
Betty, Patrick who helped building the copper still and Huy
Our copper skill
The final products!