[Sca-cooks] mead
lilinah at earthlink.net
lilinah at earthlink.net
Mon Nov 1 18:21:56 PDT 2010
Kiri wrote:
>However, there was usage of alcohol in Muslim societies...to be honest, I
>have no details, but one of my apprentices has found a number of references
>and, IIRC, recipes. It appears that they made beer and, I believe, wine.
>Much of the beer was exported to other countries. She is currently working
>on a CA about alcohol production in Islamic cultures.
Alcohol WAS made in Muslim countries... legally by Christians and
Jews, who were also the only people to sell it legally, generally
speaking. In areas to the East, for example, in what is now Iraq,
Armenians - who were Christians - were well known for making wine.
And alcohol WAS consumed... by Christians and Jews, and by SOME
Muslims, especially the nobility and upper classes. But that is not
evidence that Muslims produced the wine nor that wine was commonly
consumed by all classes of Muslims throughout Dar al-Islam.
The Persian nobility is well documented to have drunk wine. Visiting
Europeans were often shocked to discover that their Muslim hosts were
drinking UNWATERED wine, when the custom in Europe was to mix it,
often half and half, with water.
And i have read that at least some Janissaries were infamous for
frequently drinking to point of drunkenness.
But that is not sufficient to assume that a medicinal mixture of
honey water and pellitory root infusion was fermented (i suspect that
with pellitory root it just would not taste too good...)
Aelina wrote:
>I know they also distilled as well. Many of those references are
>based on cosmetics and perfumes.
Yes, they distilled things... like rose water and orange flower water.
Again, i have seen nothing to suggest they were distilling hard
liquor, for example, making brandy out of wine.
Some guy in the SCA, whose name i have forgotten wrote an article
that was published on his website and, i think, in TI that jumped to
the conclusion that liquids from Arabic recipes made with honey were
forms of mead, especially if they sat for a day or two before use. As
a brewer/vintner HE wanted that to be so, but i have read those
recipes and there is nothing to suggest they went through
fermentation. And i had a boyfriend who regularly made mead and even
in hot weather it took longer than 24 hours to have a highly
alcoholic beverage.
Finally, people, PLEASE EDIT BEFORE YOU HIT SEND! I am getting tired
of receiving an entire threaded set of messages plus all the
concomitant footers and clever sig lines when all that is needed is
the few lines of one message to which you are responding. If this
keeps happening, i will name names.
--
Urtatim [that's err-tah-TEEM]
the persona formerly known as Anahita
More information about the Sca-cooks
mailing list