There was a time when a glass of elderflower cordial smacked of the kind of refreshment a Jane Austen heroine might take in the parlour at the vicarage but, these days, elderflowers are cool. And it isn't just their distinctive flavour and scent that is winning new fans, but the fact that they tick all the right seasonal, local and wild boxes and, like all the best fashionable food and drink, have a folkloric history of curing ills. Traditional cordial maker Belvoir Fruit Farms reports that sales of elderflower products have soared by 24 per cent in the past year, and over the past month, as the fields have turned snowy with the blossom, the pickers have been busy.

Peverel Manners, who as a child helped his mother Lady Mary Manners make cordial in the family kitchen on the Belvoir estate, says they now need so many more flowers that they have been visiting Austria and Poland, where elders are grown on a much more commercial scale, to tap into their skills.

How is traditional elderflower cordial made?

In the short picking season in June, the flowers are collected by hand at the rate of 35-40kg a day. At Belvoir, the flowers are organically grown then steeped in a syrup of sugar and lemons, in vats once used by a local Stilton cheesemaker. "The secret of really good cordial," says Manners, "is to use masses of flowers that have been picked in the sunshine when they are warm and heavy with yellow pollen, then get them into the vat within three hours. We infuse the flowers very slowly over a couple of days. Over the summer, the cordial you buy will most likely be straight from the vat; we freeze the rest of the syrup for use throughout the rest of the year." Some syrup is also mixed with the estate's own lightly carbonated spring water to make a pressé.

Do some cordials contain additives?

While the Belvoir Fruit Farms drinks rely on the concentration of flowers for their taste, using only natural ingredients, some manufacturers use "natural elderflower flavouring" and preservatives, including citric acid, rather than fresh lemon juice.

How should you drink the cordial?

Although Manners reveals his mother used to "drink it neat, in a wine glass with three cubes of ice, like a liqueur", that is way too strong for most people's tastes, so dilute it as you like with still or sparkling mineral water. Traditionally, you might also add mint, apple juice and/or slices of orange or lemon.

Where to buy

Belvoir Fruit Farms (01476 870286; www.belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk) or from food shops and supermarkets. At Luscombe Farm in Devon, they make elderflower "bubbly" with their own elderflowers and Sicilian lemons (01364 643036; www.luscombe.co.uk).

Readers' queries

Where can I find salt herring?

You can order traditional barrel-salted herring from Jolly's Fish & Farm Produce in Orkney. A pair (approximately 400g) costs £7.50 (01856 872417; www.jollyfish.co.uk).

If you have a food query, e-mail food.detective@thetimes.co.uk

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