If you’ve heard of Mugolio, consider yourself well-ahead of us over here at Fifth Season Gardening. Turns out it’s a gourmet food that’s easy to make with readily available ingredients and the most basic of equipment. We had to give it a try!
True Mugolio is from Italy and made only with cones from the mugo pine. Green cones are collected in the spring, mixed with sugar and allowed to ferment for 2+ months. Natural yeasts on the pine cones are responsible for the transformation into a sweet, earthy, floral, lingering and hard-to-put-your-finger-on-it flavored syrup. Mugolio can be used similarly to honey or maple syrup to enhance both sweet and savory dishes (maybe even a cocktail too!).
Our version of “Mugolio” was made with cones from a Scotch Pine Tree that was kind enough to grow them within easy reach. Most any type of green pine cone will work. However, be sure to avoid cones from lodgepole, Norfolk, ponderosa and yew as they can be toxic. Safety Note: If you don’t know what species of pine cones you’re working with…don’t make Mugolio!
Here’s our 8-step pictorial on how to make Mugolio. The full process takes about two months to get a full fermentation. Of course, you could let yours go longer to see how the flavors develop with even more time…but it’s hard to wait!
Closing thoughts:
- We used 3 lbs of green cones and 6 lbs of light brown sugar to yield about 5 pints of finished syrup
- The syrup is said to be indefinitely shelf-stable due to the fermentation process and the sugar content…that said, it’s probably a good idea to refrigerate jars after opening.
- The taste is delicious, and a bit hard to describe. So far we’ve added a drizzle to vanilla ice cream and wood-fired pizza. Delicious on both!
- Next time, we’ll collect green cones from a couple of different species of pine trees to see if there are noticeable differences in the flavors of the final products
We hope you’ve enjoyed this post and maybe even want to give Mugolio a try for yourself! Please share any questions or your own experiences in the comments section below so that we can all learn from each other.
Cheers!
Lorenzo says
If it is not made with Mugo pinecones it is not Mugolio. It is just pinecone syrup.
brian says
We agree!
Jae Ahrend says
I heard you don’t wash the pinecones by multiple foragers bc you want that yeast fermentation
brian says
Great point and question. When we made ours, we simply rinsed with luke warm water to remove dust and debris that were on the green cones from being outside. This worked for us. For sure, we would not recommend “washing” with soap or even very hot water. As you point out…need to keep those yeast happy!