When I was a kid, I loved “projects.” Back before we had the term “DIY,” we just called it a project — an art project, craft project, cooking task, or whatever. During our lakeside family reunion last summer, we came up with a few natural projects for the kids to take part in. One was to harvest the fruit from four or five red currant bushes and make syrup for a refreshing beverage. When we lifted that bright red soda to our lips, we knew the effort had been worth it.

Red currant, or Ribes rubrum, is called ribizli in Hungarian and is much more common there than in the US. Apparently they are native to Western Europe, so I guess this is not surprising. I did taste them this summer in Massachusetts — a family friend had bought some at the Needham Farmer’s Market. Eating fresh currants can be nice, but they are quite tart and full of seeds. The recipe I’m about to share here is a good way to make the most of these nutritious fruits.

Got a soda maker? You need Szörp. (Syrup)

Szörp, or syrup, is also much more of a “thing” in Hungary than in the States. We don’t usually have a syrup aisle in the grocery store in Seattle, but in Budapest you’ll find orange, cherry, raspberry, and – one of my favorites – elderflower (bodza) szörp lined up on the grocery store shelves. Szörp, of course, is used for making soda. It’s also very common for people to make szörp at home when their friends or family dump buckets of cherries, sour cherries, raspberries or other messy, juicy fruits at their door. It always kind of make sense, because people love to drink fizzy water in Hungary, either straight or as homemade soda where you control the sugar content.

These days, we have soda makers more and more in the States, so people have started buying syrup. I actually found some elderflower syrup in a beautiful green bottle at DiBruno Bros. in Philly years ago, and I bought hibiscus stuff recently at the Lake Forest Park farmer’s market near Seattle. But garden-fresh pressed fruit is the best, no? So here’s how to make soda syrup from your garden.