[Sca-cooks] Fw: more food challenges!- Angostura Bitters

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Phlip:
>OK, guys, my mother is asking again. Now, FYI, Mimi is my grandmother, her
>mother, Ahmie is her mother's sister, Mom's aunt and my great aunt (just
>discovered I'm a great aunt, btw) and this missive is discussing things that
>happened 40 years ago- both of them died in 1965. Aunt Janet Fish was our
>neighbor and good friend (yes, THOSE Fishes) and used to sneak both of us
>tastes of whatever concoction she was serving at the current cocktail
>party.- she passed away in the early 70s. And THAT tells y'all how long
>those bitters have lasted- I suspect if we find any, we won't be buying them
>by the case ;-)
>
>Adamantius, with your Serious Interest in NY foods, I'm thinking you might
>have a clue....

I could swear I've seen Angostura bitters for sale in liquor stores 
and in the supermarket, next to the things like Rose's Lime Juice and 
Grenadine Syrup, which are in turn next to the Tonic Water and Bitter 
Lemon, which are, in turn, next to the more ordinary soda 
"pops"/phosphates, call them what you will.

So, am I missing something, or is the salient point that your mom 
can't find a bottle of Angosture Bitters where she lives?

Adamantius

>
>
>Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...
>
>NOW, I have one for you that is a REAL killer! In the "good old days," when
>I was young and Mimi was very much into the cocktail party circuit, people
>used to drink a bourbon or blended whisky drink called an "Old Fashioned."
>In it was liquor, a maraschino cherry, usually a slice of lemon or orange
>(or both) and a small amount of sugar (which was the first item placed in
>the bottom of the Old Fashioned glass.) That is why those short, wide
>glasses that we use today, be they plastic, crystal, or paper mache (just
>kidding about the last) - how do you put an accent ague over the e in mache
>on one of these machines? - became popular in the beginning. They were big
>enough to hold all that fruit plus the ice plus a hearty shot of straight
>booze without looking like 10 pounds of shit being forced into a 5-pound
>bag. Ahmie would LOVE that description. She wasn't a drinker!
>
>At any rate, once the demi-spoon of granulated sugar was put in the bottom
>of the glass, Angostura bitters (a liquid) was dripped onto the sugar - just
>a small little squirt of it - and mixed up with the sugar as best as it
>could be. Then all the rest of the garbage and the booze and ice, etcetera,
>etcetera, etcetera (to quote Yul Brynner in THE KING AND I) was added.
>Voila! An Old Fashioned! They were very popular in Mimi's day and (according
>to Mimi) Aunt Janet Fish didn't make them properly! The reason I am such an
>authority on that particular drink is because I not only got pressed into
>service at Aunt Janet's cocktail parties to serve up all the booze and
>canapes, etc., (which I am sure you did, as well) but I learned to make
>them, too. Correctly, I might add. At least, Mimi never complained about any
>that I made for her, but she might have been being polite!
>
>The point of this long diatribe on Aunt Janet and Old Fashioned drinks is
>that I am almost out of Angostura bitters, which can be used for seasoning
>things other than rich old ladies' liquor. The bottle in my possession,
>indeed, came from Mimi (and is, probably, rightfully yours instead of mine)
>but maybe not because she gave it to me when she was moving somewhere, I
>forget where, and I haven't used it that much all these years. Used
>sparingly, it is a pleasant and unusual addition to fruit, soups, and salads
>(and the label claims it's good in mincemeat pies, as well, but I hate
>mincemeat pies, based on the only one I ever tasted, so  I wouldn't know.)
>
>At any rate, the company that used to import it from wherever - I believe it
>was Italy - is mentioned on the internet but has long been gone. The bottle
>I have in my possession, whose label is not completely intact, claims that
>it was imported/made/ invented by a company in Elmhurst, N.Y., the
>Angostura-Wuppermann Corp. If there is a replacement-type for this sturdy
>little condiment, I don't know how to find it and I suspect that, even if
>there is some place that makes something similar, the fountainhead of its
>source is not located around Greenville, N.C. No fatback is incorporated in
>this concoction, you see. Much love, Mom
>
>
>Saint Phlip,
>CoDoLDS
>
>"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
>  Blacksmith's credo.
>
>  If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
>cat.
>
>Never a horse that cain't be rode,
>And never a rider who cain't be throwed....
>
>
>
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