SC - saffron

[Philip & Susan Troy]

One of the major players in the American root beer flavor profile is
sassafras root, a new world plant.  There are other flavors, but that
would make it late if at all in our general time frame as a food
product.

niccolo

Christine A Seelye-King wrote:
> 
> > BTW, could someone please clear up for me what is meant in the
> > States by "root beer"?  I have rather taken it to mean "sasparilla"
> > while my Lady contends that it is "ginger beer".  Given that it was
> > on a suggested list of possibles for taking to a pot luck, I have a
> > nasty feeling that she is right.
> >
> > Gwynydd of Culloden, Ynys Fawr, Lochac, Kingdom of the West
> 
>         Well, let me start by saying that I don't really think root beer as we
> know it is a period beverage, but I was making that list up on the fly,
> and did say it wasn't but was close.  Tinctures of roots were certainly
> made up and drunk , and many liquers we have today were actually
> medicinal in nature ("Jaegermeister" should have been left as cold
> medicine, I don't see how people can drink that stuff for pleasure :p ).
> What we know in America as root beer is a brown, soft drink,
> effervescent, tasting very sweet, slightly fruity and has a bit of a bite
> like ginger or some bitter root.  There are brands that pride themselves
> on their "bite" (Barque's Root Beer),  but I was raised on a brand called
> A&W, and prefer the ones that taste more like that.  (I just don't like
> my food to bite me back!)  My dad has a story from his youth (probably
> the late '20's) concerning a small business venture he decided to take
> up.  He bought some root beer concentrate, and used his mother's washing
> machine to make the batch in and bottle from.  I don't think his mother
> was at all pleased, nor can I imagine the stuff tasting very good!
>  Here is a post from a wonderful book, that deals with some beverage
> recipes that probably date from Colonial America.
> Christianna
> 
> >The following recipies come from _Back to Basics_, a Reader's Digest
> book.
> 
> Hay time Switchel.
> Switchel is a refreshing, energy-boosting drink used by farmhands to
> slake
> their thirsts during the heavy work of harvest season.  Jugs of switchel
> were kept cool by hanging them in a well or springhouse.
> 
> 2 cups sugar                    1sp. ground ginger
> 1 cup molasses                  1 gal. water
> 1/4 cup cider vinegar
> 
> Heat ingredients in 1 qt water until dissolved, then add the remaining
> water.  Chill and serve.
> 
> Ginger Beer
> 
> Root beer, ginger beer, lemon beer, and similar drinks had little or no
> alcoholic content.  Fermented briefly with bread yeast, they were bottled
> and stored; the fermentation served to make them fizzy.  Old-fashioned
> root
> beer is difficult to make because of the rarity of its ingredients: spice
> wood, prickly ash, and guaiacum, to name a few.  The ginger beer given
> here
> is adopted from a Mormon recipe for Spanish gingerette.
> 
> 4 oz. dried gingerroot                  1 packet active dry yeast
> 1 gal. water                            1/2 lb. sugar
> Juice from 1 lemon
> 
> Pound the gingerroot to bruise it, then boil in 1/2 gal water for about
> 20
> minutes.  Remove from stove and set aside.  Mix lemon juice and packet of
> dry yeast in a cup of warm water, and add to water with gingerroot.  Pour
> in remaining water, and let mixture sit for 24 hours.  Strain out the
> root
> and stir in sugar.  Bottle and place in refridgerator.  Do not store at
> room temperature; bottles may explode.
> 
> Comments:  I turned a batch into alcohol once--I forgot to bottle it the
> next day, and by the time I remembered, it was too late.   This has a
> stronger "bite" than commercial ginger ale.  My neighbor in CA was from
> Trinidad, and she told me this recipie tasted just like a traditional one
> they drank at Christmas/New Years.
> 
> Melandra of the Woods
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