Agua de Jamaica #FoodnFlix

This month's FoodnFlix film is the animated film "Coco".  It is a colorful, musical account of the Festival for the Day of the Dead which takes place each November in Mexico.  This fun and thought provoking movie was chosen by Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla.

I had wanted to take the Angel Face to see this when it was at the theater but never made it.  As it turns out, that was a good thing.  About halfway through the DVD she said "I don't want to watch this anymore.  Let's watch Cinderella".

So we did.  Then the next day, after she had gone home, Frank and I finished watching this movie about a young boy, Miguel, who dreams of being a musician against his families wishes.  His great grandmother, Coco, was abandoned by her father as a young girl when he went off to find fortune and fame.  The family blames the music for this and believe they should all be shoemakers as this is how Coco's mother was able to support herself and Coco after her father had left.

Miguel disobeys his family and ends up in the land of the dead where he seeks out his ancestors to try to get their blessing to play music.  Believing his great grandfather to be the famous Ernesto de la Cruz, he is on a mission to find him and enlists the help of a poor wretch named Hector who is unable to return to the land of the living because no one ever puts out his photograph.

If you haven't seen the movie yet, pick up a copy and treat yourself.  I got my copy from the library but I believe it is available soon on Netflix.

While looking for traditional  "Day of  the Dead" recipes I found an article at AZCentral which is a branch of USA Today.  This article stated that normally a family would, as seen in the movie, place photos of their deceased loved ones onto an altar that contains all of their favorite foods.  The article went on to say that:

"A glass of water is also essential because, after the journey here, the souls are thirsty and pretty tired"

This was my inspiration for the recipe I am sharing today.  This article had many links to different recipes and one of them was this Water made with Hibiscus Flowers known as Agua de Jamaica.  It is sure to quench the thirst of the living and the dead.

I did not follow this recipe exactly.  I looked at several other recipes including the one found on the package of Hibiscus flowers that I ordered and created my own concentrate.  I then used this concentrate to make a pitcher of Agua de Jamaica.

It was refreshing and tart with just a hint of sweetness.  I then used the concentrate to make a Hibiscus Simple Syrup.  I will be sharing that recipe in another post along with the Hibiscus Martini and Hibiscus Margarita that Frank created.  Stay tuned.....

Agua de Jamaica (Hibiscus Iced Tea)

Hibiscus Concentrate:

8 c. cold water

2 c. dried hibiscus flowers

1/2 c. sugar

Place all ingredients into a large pot over med high heat.  Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.  Strain into a container and store in the refrigerator.

Hibiscus Iced Tea:

Fill a large pitcher with ice and hibiscus water until half full.  Fill to the top of the pitcher with still or sparkling water, as desired.  Sweeten with additional sugar or honey, if desired.  Print Recipe