by Tom Stobart
The Properties of Ethyl Alcohol. At ordinary atmospheric pressure, pure alcohol boils at 78°C (173°F). Since pure water boils at 100°C (212°F), a mixture of water and alcohol will boil somewhere between these two extremes, depending on the relative amounts of each. *Proof spirit boils at 82°C (180°F). Of course, the alcohol does not all boil away suddenly when the temperature of wine, for example, reaches the boiling point of alcohol, but the higher the temperature of hot punch or spiced wine, the more alcohol is lost, until finally at 100°C (212°F) it is gone altogether.
Alcohol freezes at a much lower temperature than water, which is why thermometers for low temperatures are frequently filled with coloured spirit. Every winter there are fatal accidents in the Arctic when thirsty travellers swig vodka or akavit which has been left in sub-zero weather. This causes internal burns from frost-bite and caustic burns from the alcohol being strengthened as the water freezes out of the original mixture.
Pure ethyl alcohol is known as absolute alcohol; it is clear, inflammable and exceedingly caustic. The strongest alcohol normally sold in shops is 90-95% and is found in countries where the duty is not prohibitive, such as Spain (as alcohol para licores) or Italy (as alcool puro grado). It is used in home-made liqueurs and for preserving fruits such as grapes and cherries. This alcohol must be cut with an equal quantity of water before it is in any way comparable to ordinary spirits, such as gin and whisky. Taken neat, it will skin the mouth and possibly have fatal consequences. When water is added to such strong alcohol, the total volume shrinks slightly and heat is generated. It is best to dilute it with ice water.
The Effects of Alcohol. Alcohol depresses, but as it depresses first those parts of the brain which cause depression and inhibition, it appears to act as a stimulant. Later effects are impaired efficiency, slow reactions, recklessness, self-pity, bad temper, aggressiveness and falling flat on your face. Alcohol also increases the circulation in the skin, which may make you feel warmer but will, in reality, lead to cooling. Thus, a Planter’s Punch on a hot day is sensible, but the idea of a St Bernard bringing help with the brandy keg is sheer lunacy. Brandy makes the avalanche victim feel warmer, but increases his heat loss and reduces his chance of survival. A man who is cold must get into a warm place before having his whisky and hot water.
Absorption of alcohol into the blood-stream starts soon after a drink has been swallowed and is especially rapid once the drink has entered the small intestine. This happens quickly if the drink is diluted and is taken on an empty stomach. The absorption occurs more slowly if you are eating as well as drinking especially when the food is fatty, oily or heavy. There is some sense in taking a spoonful of oil or a slice of bread thickly spread with pâté before a drinking party. Similar wisdom lies behind the Russian zakousky, the Spanish tapas or the Levantine meze. Elimination of alcohol from the blood goes on much more slowly than its absorption, particularly if drinks have been taken which are rich in the higher alcohols (fusel oil).lt is a scientific fact, and not an advertising gimmick, that people will sober up far more quickly after a session on highly-rectified vodka than after the same quantities of brandy or whisky. The trouble with mixing drinks is not the alcohol but the congenerics.
Germicidal effect. Tests have shown that the germicidal effect of alcohol is greatest at a 50% concentration (i.e. at American proof). Some people disinfect jam papers with spirits, but such treatment, as usually carried out, is probably not effective. Stronger or weaker mixtures are even less effective. At a concentration over 18%, alcohol will stop the fermenting action of yeasts and will not be turned to acetic acid by bacteria. At this sort of strength it is used to preserve fruit syrups (e.g. crème de cassis). When preserving fruit such as grapes or cherries in alcohol, you should remember that it will be diluted by the juices of the fruit. You therefore have to start with a good, strong spirit.
Italian Cherry Liqueur
Wash 450 g (1 lb) ripe bitter black cherries. Put 300 g (11 oz) sugar, 2 cloves, a 5 cm (2 in) of stick cinnamon, and 150 ml (¼ pt) water in a pan, bring to the boil and cool. Mix the cooled syrup with 300 ml (½ pt) 90% alcohol. Pack the cherries into the jars without breaking them, but include a couple of cracked stones if you like. Fill the jars until the fruit is covered. Seal. Put the jars daily in the sun, turning and shaking them gently each day. After some weeks, the bottles are ready. The liquid may be drained off and bottled (adjust with boiled syrup if necessary).You can eat the cherries.
[Alcohol – French: alcool German: Alkohol Italian: alcool Spanish: alcohol]
ALE. Alcoholic drink brewed from a cereal. Now more or less synonymous with *beer, a term which used to refer to hopped ale.
[Ale – French: ale, bière German: englisches Bier, Ale Italian: birra Spanish: cerveza]
ALECOST. See costmary.
ALEXANDERS. A heavily-built, strong-smelling umbelliferous herb, with yellow-green flowers, indigenous to Mediterranean Europe but naturalized in Britain. Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) was once important as a vegetable, with a flavour between celery and parsley. Today, celery has superseded it.
[Alexanders – French: ombrelle jaune Italian: macerone Spanish: esmirnio]
ALFALFA. Probably the world’s most important forage legume, alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a native of the Mediterranean region. It was grown by the ancient Persians, Greeks and Romans, and spread into China and the whole of Europe. It is fashionable at the moment to sprout alfalfa seeds as a salad food. The flavour is mild and pleasant.
ALKERMES. An old-fashioned French and Italian sweet red cordial made with *kermes.
ALKALIS are, in many ways, the opposites or antagonists of *acids. The word comes from the old Arab alchemists and referred to the white ashes of wood; these were mostly carbonates of potassium and sodium and were used in experiments as well as for cleaning and making soap. Today we would use the much stronger *caustic soda and *washing soda. When dissolved in water, and perhaps filtered, the wood-ash solution was known as *lye. Other common alkalis are *bicarbonate of soda (the one alkali commonly used in cooking), *lime and *ammonia. Substances which neutralize acids and combine with them to form salts are known in chemistry as bases; alkalis are bases that are soluble in water. The alkalinity of a solution is measured by its *pH.
Many alkalis are dangerously caustic when strong. Even when highly diluted, they feel slimy on the fingers and often have an unpleasant soda taste, although an alkaline flavour is sometimes liked in soda bread, scones and girdle cakes, or as the ash on bonfire-roasted potatoes or on the bottom of old-fashioned, brick-oven bread.
Alkalis turn litmus paper blue and likewise affect beetroot and red cabbage, turning them an unappetizing purple; on the other hand, they intensify the green of green cabbage. Also they soften the skins of seeds, which is why bicarbonate of soda is frequently added to the water in which beans or chick-peas are cooked. They can even be used to remove skins entirely. In some places, bicarbonate of soda is also used to tenderize meat. *Lime-water and lye are required in some pickle recipes, and dilute caustic soda enters into quick commercial cures for green olives.
[Alkalis – French: alcalis German: Alkalien Italian: alcali Spanish: álcalis]
ALKALOIDS. Nitrogenous organic substances which are basic (alkaline, hence the name) and often poisonous and bitter, alkaloids are found in certain plants. Many of them are used as drugs. Examples are morphine in the gum of unripe poppy capsules, belladonna (atropine) in the leaves and roots of deadly nightshade, cocaine in coca leaves and strychnine from the seeds of the East Indian nux vomica tree. Perhaps the instinctive dislike we have of bitter tastes could be an archaic survival trait. Quinine in very dilute form is used in the Indian tonic water of gin and tonic. In larger quantities, it is a powerful and dangerous drug, but in amounts likely to be immediately harmful, the bitterness would be intolerable. *Caffeine is a common alkaloid present in coffee, tea and cola nuts. Another alkaloid associated with caffeine is theobromine, which does not stimulate the brain, but dilates the arteri
es.
[Alkaloids – French: alcaloïdes German: Alkaloide Italian: alcaloidi Spanish: alcaloides]
ALKANNA, anchusa, or dyers’ alkanet. A plant of the borage family (Alkanna tinctoria), native to the Mediterranean and south-east Europe. It has bright blue flowers, and the roots contain a powerful red dye, soluble in oil, alcohol and water (in the last giving a brownish colour).Alkanna is used to colour wine, drinks, ices, sausage skins, margarine, etc. As a colouring for meat dishes, it is frequently mentioned in 14th century recipes.
[Alkanna – French: orcanette German: Alkanna Italian: alcanna Spanish: alcoma, orcaneta]
ALL-GOOD. See spinach (Good King Henry).
ALLIGATOR PEAR. See avocado.
ALLSPICE, Jamaica pepper, or myrtle pepper. The dried berry of a tree (Pimento dioica) native to tropical America. Although it is grown in other tropical countries, the bulk comes from Jamaica. The name allspice describes its taste, which resembles a mixture of several Old World spices, in which cloves predominate. However, it really cannot be imitated exactly.
Whole allspice looks like large peppercorns. They are often included in pickle-spice mixtures and in marinades and brines for herring and beef. In Arab countries, although it is not normally used in curries, it has been adopted for pilaus and is very popular. Ground, preferably freshly, it is a usual spice in fruit cakes, mince pies and plum pudding. It can be used with discretion in many places where a hint, but no more, of cloves might be nice, for instance with tomatoes and beetroot or, for those who like it, with cooked apples and pears. In fact, allspice is rather liked in northern Europe, but surprisingly in view of historical connections, it is not much used in Spain. In recipes from Yorkshire, allspice is often referred to as sweet pepper, which can be confusing.
[Allspice – French: quatre-épices, piment de la Jamaïque German: Allgewürz, Jamaikapfeffer, Nelkenpfeffer Italian: pimento Spanish: pimiento de Jamaica]
ALMOND. From a gastronomic point of view, undoubtedly the world’s most important nut. Almonds come from the kernel of a fruit closely related to the apricot and like it in many ways, except that the fruit of the ripe almond is leathery, dusky green and quite inedible. Only when they are very young, before the nut is formed, is it possible to enjoy the sour, hard little fruits as a rough sort of hors-d’oeuvre, for which they are eaten occasionally in the places where they grow. They have the same internal effects as sour apples.
Almond trees (Prunus amygdalus) are essentially Mediterranean, and indeed are probably indigenous to the eastern Mediterranean (they are mentioned in the Old Testament), although it has been claimed that they came from further east. They were spread by the Romans and later by the Arabs, but can be grown profitably only in the warm climate liked by the rather hardier lemon and olive. The almond is the first orchard tree to flower in the spring, often in January, which makes the young fruit exceedingly vulnerable to frost. It flowers well further north, but the results are too uncertain to make it a commercial crop. The decorative blossom often seen in English gardens is usually of hard-stoned, bitter varieties, which rarely get nuts, not just because of the frost but because almonds are self-sterile and need another almond of a compatible variety growing nearby.
Today almonds are grown extensively in South Africa and Australia, but do not like the tropics, where the so-called tropical almonds (which are not almonds at all) have to take their place. The bulk of the world’s supply comes from Spain, Italy and California, and almonds are also grown in Provence (especially around Aix), Languedoc, Portugal, the Canary Islands, North Africa (especially in Algeria and Morocco), Greece, Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan and Kashmir. This distribution means that almonds are traditional in the cooking of Europe, the Middle East and as far away as northern India, where they are commonly used in the more elaborate Mogul food.
Bitter Almonds (Prunus amygdalus var. amara), grown mainly in Sicily, Sardinia, North Africa and southern France, are small with very hard shiny shells. The kernels are usually less oily than those of sweet almonds, but the important distinguishing characteristic is the strong taste of bitter almond which develops when mixed with water (or saliva). They contain a glucoside (a nitrogenous substance related to sugar) which, when acted on by an enzyme, reacts with water to form prussic (hydrocyanic) acid and benzaldehyde. Prussic acid is lethal in very small doses, which is why it is unsafe to eat more than one or two bitter almonds, peach stones or other bitter-almond flavoured nuts or leaves. Fortunately, this acid is highly volatile and vanishes into the air on heating, leaving behind only the bitter-almond flavoured benzaldehyde, which is relatively harmless in small quantities. Roasting fruit kernels will also destroy the enzyme system. Those who like the taste of bitter almonds will find it in confections like amaretti (but not in amaretti di Saronno which contain apricot kernels), macaroons and some pastes; there is also *noyau. With more delicacy, the flavour pleases most people in plum, cherry and apricot jam, to which it is imparted by adding a few crushed stones. An almost unrecognizable waft of it is delicious with pork, too. But almond essence, as bought in bottles, is almost always a fairly nasty substance, and since it is used heavily in the average multi-storey wedding cake, people with discriminating palates may be encouraged to live in sin. When the flavour is wanted in emergency, then cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) or peach leaves may be used provided that, after maceration in water, the liquid is heated. Ratafia, orgeat, noyau and other almond-flavoured liqueurs may also be pressed into service. Bitter almonds are illegal as a commercial ingredient in the US.
Amaretti
Blanch 100 g (4 oz) each of sweet almonds and bitter almonds. Dry them in a cool oven and pound them with 225 g (8 oz) sugar. Beat 2 egg whites until they are stiff and gently fold in the almond mixture to form a medium-soft paste. Pipe blobs of this on to rice-paper. Sprinkle them with icing sugar and let them stand for a few hours. Then bake for 40 minutes in a moderate oven.
Sweet Almonds. When the type of almond is not specified in a recipe, one should use sweet almonds. They have a delicate flavour with no trace of benzaldehyde. The many varieties differ in size, shape, oil content and shell hardness (important in dessert almonds).There are paper-shell and soft-shell types, which can be cracked with the fingers, and famous varieties like the Jordan (jardin) almond and the Italian premice with fine, large, flat, regular-shaped nuts. You should suspect round nuts, especially if they have close-textured, shiny shells, as these are usually commercial types intended to be cracked by machine and may not be sweet almonds at all. For purposes other than dessert, most people will prefer to buy shelled almonds, which keep well and can be bought whole, either in the skin or blanched, in halves (for cake decoration), sliced, shaved, chopped or ground. They are also available roasted and salted for snacks. Ground almond is easy to adulterate and, since almonds are expensive, this is frequently done (though in most countries will be indicated in the ingredients listed on the label).When buying ground almonds or almond flour, check to make sure that it has not been padded with cheap nut flour, biscuit meal and sugar, and flavoured with bitter almonds. If it is, avoid it because it will ruin any recipe and the result will taste like a nasty product from some third rate shop.
The use of almonds in confectionery is well known. They are used in almost every country, in panforte from Siena, in Schokoladetorte mit Mandeln from Austria and in Bakewell tarts from Derbyshire. There are also sugared almonds and rich sweetmeats such as torrone (Italy), turrón (Spain) or touron (France) and marzipan, marchpane, massepain (France), marzapani (Italy) or mazapán (Spain), which are of ancient origin. Less well known outside the almond-producing countries of the Middle East and Mediterranean are the various forms of almond milk; for instance, the popular leche de almendras of Spain, which, with sugar, becomes an almendrada or a horchata de almendras (and is made like *horchata de chufas).ln the Spanish supermarkets, there is miel de almendras (literally, honey of almonds) in jars.
Of the savoury uses of almonds, everyone knows truite aux amandes, a univ
ersal restaurant dish. Oriental countries, from Turkey to India, use almonds with rice in stuffings for poultry and in pilau. Chinese chicken or pork with almonds is widely known. Raw or toasted almonds are used in salads for nourishment or texture, as in salade forestière (where sliced raw mushrooms, bound lightly with mayonnaise, are covered with a layer of almond shavings) or the nougada of the Middle East (which, like homous, is more of a dip than a salad: a cream of pounded almonds, garlic, parsley and lemon juice). In the sopa blanca of Andalusia, an emulsion is made by pounding together a small handful of blanched almonds with an equal volume of peeled broad beans and a clove of garlic. Into this, olive oil is gradually worked; finally, the emulsion is diluted with the juice of a lemon and 1 It (1¾ pt) of cold water, salted to taste, and strained over bread cubes in a tureen.
Dishes containing toasted almonds have a rather different flavour. Such almonds are used particularly in Catalan cooking. A paste of toasted almonds (sometimes with pine nuts) pounded with garlic, fried bread cubes, parsley and saffron is added to many dishes. One may see a bottle labelled picada (made by liquidizing olive oil, saffron, almonds, parsley and water) standing near the stove in restaurants from the Costa Brava to Tarragona. Examples of dishes using this combination are mero a Ia costa bravo, langosta del ampurdán (a casserole of langouste with snails, onion, tomato and wine) and gallina tibidado (chicken). Spain has many almond recipes including those for eels and other fish in almond sauce, artichokes stuffed with almonds, and kidneys with almonds. Other countries do not so far seem to be so prolific in this respect.