Home-made lime-flower herbal tea

The harvest of lime-flowers is now done and the flowers & leaves are drying in a quiet spot in the shade of Hongrie. Scattered on the white linen, the tiny yellow spots attract the eye while its sweet fragrance fills the room. 

Lime-flower is a herbal tea often associated with grand-ma recipes given to rowdy children to calm them down before sleep. It is certainly one of the lime-flower's properties to relax the body and mind. Drinking a well-infused cup of lime-flower herbal tea before bed makes for a good night's sleep.

However this are not the only properties of the lime-flower. As a calming herbal tea it helps digestion by 'relaxing' the digestive system and preventing stomach cramp. This can be helpful in case of illness or after a heavy meal taken in stressful conditions - for example during a business meeting. Digestion will always be eased by a cup of warm lime-flower herbal tea, and the stomach will hurt less during the digestive process. 

Lime-flower also has a 'detox' reputation because of two additional properties: 1) it is an hidrotic, aka it helps sweating; 2) it is also a diuretic, aka it causes an increased passing of urine. Both properties help eliminate faster, without straining the body: if drunk in moderation after each meal for a week, a mild detox cure can be achieved naturally and smoothly. 

One final way to use lime-flower herbal tea is to soothe skin irritations: once it has cooled down, dip a clean cloth in the infused herbal tea and lightly apply on the irritated skin. It should bring a soothing refreshment to your skin - of course this is in addition to consulting your GP. 

Preparation:
 
As most people are not as lucky as we are and cannot harvest their own lime-flower, it usually is bought in tea-bags at the shop. 

Preparation is very simple: pour boiling water on the flowers or the bag - a half tea spoon infusing about a half-litre of water. Be aware that herbal tea usually require a longer infusing time than normal tea. If you own a thermos bottle, you can also use a bag to infuse a whole pan of lime-flower herbal tea and bring it with you during the day. 

Find more daily inspiration in our Instagram @domainedehongrie

What is the origin of the name "Hongrie"?

Today we will explain why the Domaine is called "Hongrie". Well... actually we will just offer a few possible explanations, as we are still not 100% positive about the origin of the name. 

1) "Hongrie" means "Hungary" in French, and our first supposition was that somehow this was linked to the first owner's nationality or perhaps named in souvenir of a war in that country. That interpretation was seemingly corroborated by the fact that a small abandoned cabin near Hongrie is named "Serbie" (Serbia). However, later on we found out that Serbie originated in fact from the gascon (from Gascony) dialect "Serbi", meaning "to serve" and probably used by domestics in the past.

2) The path leading to the entrance was already planted with beautiful oaks when we bought the house, lending it some character. We found out that there was a type of tree named "Hungarian Oak" so we thought it might be why Hongrie was named as such - but none of the existing oaks are Quercus frainetto so this hypothesis was abandoned from lack of evidence.

 

Planche extraite de l'Encyclopédie Diderot et d'Alembert : Tanneur, Travail des Pleins (ou pelains) -1762 © Reproduction Service régional de l'inventaire de Poitou-Charentes / G. Beauvarlet, 2006  

3) The most convincing hypothesis was found when renovating the kitchen. Régis found large holes in the ground, shaped like amphoras: they had been man-made by digging in the clay of the soil beneath the house. There are several of these across the house, as far as we can tell (we did not destroy the whole floor!) and at first this was really puzzling. When Josepha saw them it reminded her of the archaeological course she took on gallo-roman farms where big jars were stored in the soil itself. 

Further research led us to think that Hongrie might have been in the past before the house the location of a tannery: the holes would have been used to treat and dye the skins. 

Some of the tanners were named "Hongrieurs" or "Hongroyeur" as they were tanning so called "leather of Hungary" even if located in Paris.

So this is the origin of "Hongrie" - this location probably used to be a tannery! There was water in the surroundings and the location is a bit apart from the rest of the village, which would have been normal for such a smelly activity. Ask us to see the kitchen "hole" if you visit us, Régis even installed a light bulb so that its size - as an adult can even stand inside it - can be well appreciated.

You can find here some more information about the process of tanning, which can involve oak bark as well.

Welcome to our home - Hongrie!

Welcome to our home - Hongrie!

From this day Hongrie can express itself on the web. "Hongrie" is the name of our house, but also the estate surrounding it. Not an estate in the posh sense of the word: it means the land that René Gillet first bought with his wife Jacqueline when they moved in the Gers in 1987 from their provençal birthplace. This land or estate was called "domaine" in French, before our family arrived here, but we kept the name going. 

All friends and guests that visit Hongrie tell us that this is a special place, a bit magical, and it stays in their heart as a safe haven from the frantic life outside. Our family is composed of Claudia, daughter of René & Jacqueline, her husband Régis Meyer and their daughter Josepha. We decided to let Hongrie speak for itself online, and share our daily delights in the small pleasures in life. Hongrie represents our motto of eating well and living well, and every single day we are grateful for this place. 

This English blog is the twin of our French one, so you will notice our unique Frenglish tone in the writing - let's hope we will improve as it goes!

Truly, welcome to Hongrie - and carpe diem.