In honor of Harry Potter’s birthday, July 31st, I decided to create a Harry Potter-themed recipe! There are so many drinks and food inspired by this book series that it’s hard to choose. My usual recipe when I am in the mood to pretend I am in the Wizarding World is butterbeer; however, because it’s summer I wanted to drink more light and refreshing. So I decided to create an amped-up version of gillywater!
Gillyweed is the presumed main ingredient of this drink. Gillyweed first appears in Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire when Harry is attempting to complete the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. Another reason why I chose this drink is because Dobby, one of my favorite characters, is the one to introduce Gillyweed. The plant is described as, “a ball of what looked liked like slimy, grayish-green rat tails” (Rowling 491).
Harry Potter is at first very hesitant to take Dobby’s suggestion as “the last time Dobby had tried to ‘help’ him, he had ended up with no bones in his right arm” (Rowling 491). I absolutely love the way Dobby persists and is determined for Harry to not lose “his Wheezy”, meaning his best friend Ron Weasley, in the second task. Harry finally does decide to take the gillyweed and grows gills and webbed fingers and toes.
I had always liked the fourth novel in this series. The novel brings up much more world-building and has a fresh plot line unlike any other book in the Harry Potter series. Although my drink won’t give you gills and flippers, it definitely provides a kick, as it is alcoholic.
Now for the recipe:
This recipe creates one serving.
Ingredients:
¼ cup of blueberries
10-12 leaves of mint
1 cup of club soda
1 shot of white rum
1 tbs of simple syrup
½ lime
1 cucumber
Step One:
First, muddle the blueberries and the mint leaves inside of the desired glass. Muddle means to crush repeatedly until mashed up. Using the bottom of a wooden spoon is usually the most convenient tool to muddle.
Step Two:
Add the juice of one half of a lime, the one cup of club soda, the tablespoon of simple syrup, and the shot of white rum. Mix together.
Step Three:
This is the fun part! Time to garnish and decorate. In order to take this recipe from a typical blueberry mojito to gillywater-it’s all about the display. To get the feel and texture of the gillyweed I used a potato peeler on a cucumber. This created long, slimy strands just as Harry describes in the book! In addition, I added more mint including the stems just to add to the greenery.
Then enjoy!!
You can imagine yourself sipping this drink, cheering Harry or Cedric on in the second task, at the lake, while the Durmstands cheer on Victor Krum and the Beauxbatons cheer on Fleur Delacour. Or, if you’re looking for a more peaceful environment, you can share one with Luna Lovegood at The Three Broomsticks, where she notoriously dips onion in her gillywater.
Works Cited
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. Scholastic, 2000.