Vișine are sour cherries, and vișinată is what Romanian households do with the summer's crop when they have made all the jam they can face. The cherries sit in a big glass jar with sugar until they weep a dark syrup, then a clean spirit goes in, and the jar is left alone for a month or two. What comes out is a deep red liqueur, sweet but with a bitter almond edge from the stones, and a fragrance more like wood and spice than a cherry from the market. In Transylvania it is a particular favorite among women, and it has a family of cousins made from blackcurrants, blueberries and raspberries.

Making it is a test of patience rather than skill, and it rewards planning: start it in early summer and it is ready by the autumn race weekends. The zero proof version, a sour cherry syrup topped with sparkling water, is ready the same day.

The liqueur

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 lb (1 kg) sour cherries
• 2 cups (400 g) sugar
• 3 cups (750 ml) vodka
• 1/2 vanilla bean

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