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

[Elaine Koogler]

I think that the last bottle I possessed came from a good liquor store. 

Kiri

Phlip wrote:

>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....
>
>
>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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