[Sca-cooks] mead

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

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