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MISLEADING FOOD NAMES

Many foods have misleading names that purport to indicate either their origin or ingredients, or both, while actually doing neither.  Some of these are cultural put-downs of a sort, while others are simply imaginative or muddled thinking.  Foods named for famous places may have no connection with them.  Some food names have been mistranslated from their original language.  Many cuisines have fanciful names for dishes but no one eating them is deceived.  Here are some of them.

BOMBAY DUCK - is not duck at all, but dried fish, a species from Southern Asia

CREAM CRACKERS - contain no cream, and are pale brown in colour

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE - is unrelated to Jerusalem it is a tuberous sunflower

MINCEMEAT - was invented in the Middle Ages as a sweet, spicy mixture of chopped lean meat, suet and fruit.  Over time the meat was reduced and today the mixture contains nuts, dried fruit, beef suet, spices and brandy or rum

REFRIED BEANS - are only fried once.  Their English name comes from the Spanish word “refrito” where the “re” is used for emphasis, not repetition

SPOTTED DICK - is a steamed pudding made with dried fruits

SWEETBREAD - neither sweet, nor bread.  It is a dish made up of the pancreas or the thymus gland of a calf or lamb, prepared in a variety of ways, including fried, sautéed or baked

TOAD IN THE HOLE - contains no toads but is a traditional British dish made of sausages cooked in Yorkshire Pudding

WELSH RAREBIT - neither name describes what this food actually is.  It is an open-faced toasted cheese sandwich or a cheese sauce on buttered toast

ANTS CLIMBING A TREE - this is a Szechuan Chinese meal made with ground pork and vermicelli, resembling columns of ants climbing along twigs

CARNE DE MONO - this translates from Spanish to Monkey Meat but is actually smoked pork

AGUA DE BILBAO - is not water of Bilbao but a Bilbao nickname for champagne or cava

BRAZO DE GITANO - translates from Spanish into Gypsy’s Arm but is a cake roll

BUFFALO WINGS - not made from buffalo but are chicken wings coated in a hot pepper sauce

CAESAR SALAD - no relation to the Caesars of Ancient Rome, but is named for its creator, Caesar Cardini

FRENCH FRIES - probably originated in Belgium

ITALIAN DRESSING - a vinaigrette which is unknown in Italy, where oil and vinegar are usually served separately

PIGS IN A BLANKET - any one of a number of dishes where a sausage is wrapped in a quick bread

LONG ISLAND ICED TEA - has no tea in it and is extremely alcoholic

HAWAIIAN PIZZA - this version of pizza does not come from Hawaii.  It is a pizza with toppings of pineapple and ham

HISTORY OF CUBA LIBRE

The Cuba Libre is a cocktail made of cola, lime and rum.  This cocktail is often referred to as a Rum and Coke in the US and Canada, where the lime juice is optional.  Bacardi claims ownership of the original, while some have also claimed it for Havana Club.  It seems unlikely, however, that anyone could safely identify the first individual to combine rum and Coca-Cola, when seven or eight individuals lay claim to the creation of the Margarita, a far more complex drink - let alone identify the brand.  The politically loaded name (it means “free Cuba”) is further complicated by Bacardi’s political involvement in Cuba

Cuba Libres are sometimes called “Mentiritas” (little lies) by Cuban exiles opposed to the current Communist government run by Fidel Castro.  Accounts of the invention of the Cuba Libre vary.  One account claims that the drink was invented in Havana, Cuba around 1900.  Patriots aiding Cuba during the Spanish-American War and later, expatriates avoiding Prohibition, regularly mixed rum and Cola as a cocktail and a toast to this West Indies island.

According to Bacardi:-

“The world’s most popular drink was born in a collision between the US and Spain.  It happened during the Spanish-American War at the turn of the century when Teddy Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and Americans in large numbers arrived in Cuba.  One afternoon, a group of off-duty soldiers from the US Signal Corps were gathered in a bar in Old Havana.  Fausto Rodriguez, a young messenger, later recalled that a captain came in and ordered Bacardi (Gold) rum and Coca-Cola on ice with a wedge of lime.  The captain drank the concoction with such pleasure that it sparked the interest of the soldiers around him.  They had the bartender prepare a round of the captain’s drink for them.  The Bacardi rum and Coke was an instant hit.  As it does to this day, the drink united the crowd in a spirit of fun and good fellowship.  When they ordered another round, one soldier suggested that they toast ¡Por Cuba Libre! in celebration of the newly freed Cuba.  The captain raised his glass and sang out the battle cry that had inspired Cuba’s victorious soldiers in the War of Independence.”

However, there are some problems with Bacardi’s account, as the Spanish-American war was fought in 1898, Cuba’s liberation was in 1898 and the Rough Riders left Cuba in September 1898, but Coca-Cola was not available in Cuba until 1900.  According to a 1965 deposition by Fausto Rodriguez, the Cuba Libre was first mixed at a Cuban bar in August of 1900 by a member of the US Signal Corps, referred to as “John Doe”.  The drink was once viewed as exotic, with its dark syrup, made (at that time) from cola nuts and coca.  Soon enough, the Cuba Libre caught on everywhere throughout the American south and filtered through the north and west, aided by the ample supply of its ingredients.  The drink gained further popularity in the US after the Andrews Sisters recorded a song in 1945 named after the drinks ingredients, “Rum and Coca-Cola”.  The ingredients were both cheap at the time and this also contributed to the widespread popularity of the concoction.

The Cuba Pintada (stained / painted Cuba) and Cuba Campecheana are also popular, especially among young people.  The first is rum with club soda and just a dash of cola; the Campechana contains half club soda and half coke.  A recent variation is the Coppertone which specifically uses Malibu Rum and Cherry Coke.  The drink has an aroma a little like suntan lotion (hence the name).  Another variation is the Cuban Missile Crisis.  It uses a higher proof rum, such as Bacardi 151 (75.5%).

HISTORY OF DAQUIRI

Daiquiri (properly spelt with an acute accent on the final letter (“daiquirí”) but commonly anglicised and written without the accent) is a family of cocktails whose main ingredients are rum and lime juice.  There are several versions but those that gained international fame are the ones made in one of the most famous bars in the world, El Floridita, in Havana, Cuba.

The Daiquiri is one of six basic drinks listed in David A Embury’s classic The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.  In the book, he also suggests some variations such as substituting part or all of the syrup with grenadine.

The name Daiquiri is also the name of a beach near Santiago, Cuba, and an iron mine in that area.  The cocktail was invented about 1905 in a bar named Venus in Santiago, about 23 miles east of the mine, by a group of American mining engineers.  Among the engineers present were Jennings Cox, General Manager of the Spanish American Iron Co.  Although stories persist that Cox invented the drink when he ran out of gin while entertaining American guests, the drink evolved naturally due to the prevalence of lime and sugar.

Originally the drink was served in a tall glass packed with cracked ice.  A teaspoon of sugar was poured over the ice and the juices of one or two limes was squeezed over the sugar.  Two or three ounces of rum completed the mixture.  The glass was then frosted by stirring with a long-handled spoon.  Later the Daiquiri evolved to be mixed in a shaker with the same ingredients but with shaved ice.  After a thorough shaking, it was poured into a chilled fluted glass.  An article in the March 14, 1937 edition of the Miami Herald as well as private correspondence of J F Linthicum confirm the recipe and early history.  Consumption of the drink remained localised until 1909, when Admiral Lucius W Johnson, a US Navy medical officer, tried Cox’s drink.  Johnson subsequently introduced it to the Army and Navy Club in Washington DC and drinkers of the daiquiri increased over the space of a few decades.  The daiquiri was one of the favourite drinks of writer Ernest Hemingway and president John F Kennedy.

VARIATIONS

Daiquiri Floridita - with maraschino liqueur, created by Constantino Ribalaigua Vert at El Floridita

Papa Doble - double the proportion of rum, named for Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway Special - leave out the sugar, add a splash of grapefruit juice and maraschino liqueur

The Champ Sampson - triple the dark rum…..a.k.a. Heavy on the handle

A wide variety of alcoholic mixed drinks made with finely pulverised ice are often called a “frozen daiquiri”.  These drinks can also be combined and poured into a “margarita machine” or a “daiquiri machine” eliminating the need for manual pulverisation.  Although to purists most of these are not true daiquiris at all, use of this term to describe these drinks is common, especially around the US Gulf Coast.  Such drinks are often commercially made in machines which produce a texture similar to a smoothie, and come in a wide variety of flavours made with various alcohol or liquors.

HISTORY OF TEQUILA

Tequila is a spirit made primarily in the area surrounding Tequila, a town in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, 65km northwest of Guadalajara and in the highlands of Jalisco, 65km east of Guadalajara.  It is made from the blue agave, part of the lily and amaryllis families which is native to Mexico.  Tequila is most often made at a 38-40% alcohol content (76-80 proof) but there are also several varieties of Tequila produced with 43-46% alcohol content (86-92 proof).

HISTORY

Tequila was first produced in the 16th century near the location of the city of Tequila which was not officially established until 1656.  The Aztec people had previously made a fermented beverage from the agave plant which they called octli (later and more popularly called pulque), long before the Spanish arrived in 1521.  When the Spanish conquistadors ran out of their own brandy, they began to distil this agave drink to produce North America’s first indigenous distilled spirit.  Some 80 years later, around 1600, Pedro Sánchez de Tagle, the Marquis of Altamira, began mass-producing tequila at the first factory in the territory of modern-day Jalisco.  By 1608, the colonial governor of Nueva Galicia had begun to tax his products.  The tequila that is popular today was first mass-produced in the early 1800s in Guadalajara, Mexico.

RECENT HISTORY

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, increasing world-wide popularity of tequila drove corporate interest in the drink.  Notable developments as a result included:-

The purchase of Herradura by Brown-Forman for $776 million in September 2006

The purchase of the Sauza and El Tesoro brands by massive holding company Fortune Brands

A new NOM (Norma Official Mexicana) for tequila was issued in 2006, and among other changes, introduced a category of tequila called “tequila extra añejo” which must be aged a minimum of 3 years

Although some tequilas have remained as family owned brands, most well known tequila brands are owned by large multinational corporations.  However, there are over 100 distilleries making over 600 brands of tequila in Mexico and over 2,000 brand names have been registered.  A one-litre bottle of limited-edition premium tequila was sold for $225,000 in July 2006 in Tequila, Jalisco, by the company Tequila Ley 925.  The bottle which contains the tequila is a two-kilo display of platinum and gold.  The manufacturer has received the Certificate from Guinness World Records for the most expensive bottle of liquor ever sold.

2006 TEQUILA TRADE AGREEMENT

On January 17, 2006 the US and Mexico signed an agreement allowing the continued bulk import of Tequila into the US.  Without this agreement, all tequila would have had to be bottled in Mexico.  However, bulk importing applied to “well Tequila” which must include a minimum of 51% agave.  100% agave Tequilas must be bottled in Mexico.  In addition to allowing bulk import, the agreement also created a “tequila bottlers registry” that identifies approved bottlers of tequila.  Other key elements of the agreement include a prohibition on Mexican regulation of tequila labelling or marketing, as well as the labelling, formulation and marketing of distilled spirits specialty products outside of Mexico and the establishment of a working group to monitor the implementation of the agreement.

TMA

Production of the agave plant has been hindered in the early 2000s by a number of rot-related problems, collectively referred to as TMA (Tristeza y Muerte de Agave - the wilting and death of the agave).  As of 2002, 23% or more of the plant produced in Jalisco were affected.  Part of the problem is a group of diseases, spread by the larvae of the weevil.  Also the fungus Thielaviopsis paradoxa prevents younger plants from forming roots.  According to a 2004 study, additional pathogens Erwinia carotovora, Enterobacter agglomerans, Pseudomonas mendocina and Serratia sp. are responsible for continued rot.  TMA has resulted in lower production and higher prices and due to the long maturation of the plant, will likely continue to affect prices for years to come.

TYPES OF TEQUILA

Tequila is usually bottled in one of five categories:-

oro (gold) - un-aged tequila which is “joven y abogado” (young and adulterated) which means that caramel, fructose, glycerine and wood flavouring can be added to resemble aged tequila

Blanco (white) or plata (silver) - un-aged white spirit

Reposado (rested) - aged a minimum of 2 months, but less than a year in oak barrels

Añejo (aged or vintage) - aged a minimum of 1 year but less than 3 years in oak barrels

Extra añejo (extra aged) - aged a minimum of 3 years in oak barrels, this category was established in March 2006

The ageing process changes the colour of the tequila, but the liquid can sometimes be coloured with caramel to show a darker colour, indicative of a longer ageing process.  It is a common misconception that some tequilas contain a “worm” in the bottle.  Only certain mescals (a Mexican distilled spirit), usually from the state of Oaxaca, are ever sold con gusano, and that only began as a marketing gimmick in the 1940s.  The worm is actually the larval form of the moth Hypopta agavis that lives on the agave plant.  Finding one in the plant during processing indicates an infestation and, correspondingly, a lower quality product.  However, this misconception continues, and even with all the effort and marketing to represent tequila as a premium - similar to the way Cognac is viewed in relation to brandy - there are some opportunist producers for the shooters and fun market who blur these boundaries.  In the 2000s, a distributor known for their tequilas, launched Villa Lobos, a vodka which had the unique selling point that it too featured the “agave worm”.  The marketing of this product highlighted the drinks links with tequilas and said that it was developed in reaction to the tequila crisis of the previous years.

DRINKS

In Mexico, contrary to popular belief, tequila is drunk straight without salt and lemon.  It is always popular to drink fine tequila with a side of sangrita - a sweet, sour and spicy drink typically made from orange juice, grenadine (or tomato juice) and hot chillies.  Equal-sized shots of tequila and sangrita are sipped alternately, without salt or lemon.

TEQUILA SHOTS

Outside Mexico, a single shot of tequila is often served with salt and a slice of lime.  This is called “tequila cruda” and is sometimes referred to as “training wheels” or a “lick-sip-suck”.  Drinking tequila in this way is often erroneously called a Tequila Slammer - however, this is a mixed tequila and carbonated drink.

GLASSES

When served neat, tequila is most often served in a shot glass (caballito).  The Conssejo Regulador del Tequila (Tequila Regulatory Council) approved an “official tequila glass” in 2002 made by Riedel.  Finally, there is the margarita glass, rimmed with salt or sugar - this is a staple for the entire tequila/fruit mixed drink genre including the margarita itself.

HISTORY OF MARTINI

For centuries the Piedmont region in northern Italy has been the cradle of vermouth production.  Why?  Because the hills and mountains clustered around Turin provide the best herbs and wines in the world for its production.  The town of Pessione lies in this area, and this is where the Martini legend began.

In the mid 1800s, Turin`s Distilleria Nazionale di Spirito di Vino was formed, specialising in the production and sale of wine, vermouth and liquors.

From within the Distilleria an exceptional trio of rising stars emerged - Alessandro Martini, Luigi Rossi and Teofilo Sola - experts, respectively in commerce, herbalism and book-keeping.  These three men started something that would put the village of Pessione on the map and the name of the brand on the lips of the world.  Together, they took the company forward, changing its name in 1863 to MARTINI Sola and Cia.

In 1879 the Sola family sold its interests to the remaining partners.  Within a decade the new company, Martini and Rossi, fuelled by the energy and ambition of its founders, had offices around the world, from Buenos Aires to Geneva and Barcelona, to become Piedmont`s largest wine exporter.  The journey had begun.

BOTTLES AND LABELS HISTORY

In the Martini labels you can see its heritage and the way it’s adapted to each new age.  Put a bottle of Martini on a table and you’ll know it’s a bottle of Martini from 12 metres away.  What it comes in is as unique as what’s inside it.

SPANISH BEER

Three companies take care of most of the brewing in Spain: Heineken, Mahou-San Miguel and Damm.  The last two are both Spanish-owned.  Between them they have over 80% of the Spanish beer market.  In an unusual surge against the multinational tide, much of the brewing industry swapped back into Spanish ownership in recent years.

There are 5 Heineken breweries in Spain.  Heineken España, in its current form, was created in 1999 when Heineken bought the five breweries off the Cruzcampo group from Diageo (Guinness) to add to the two El Aguila breweries it already owned.  It was then forced to sell on its two duplicates (in Madrid and Valencia) to Damm.

Mahou-San Miguel has four breweries in Spain.  Spanish-owned, they formed when Madrid-based Mahou bought San Miguel from Danone (Kronenburg).

Damm also has four breweries and is Spanish-owned.  Originally they were Barcelona-based but bought two breweries from Heineken when Spanish regulators stepped in over their Cruzcampo takeover.

SPANISH FOOD & ITS HISTORY

The first introduction of a product then unknown to ancient Iberia was that of wheat, which was thought to be brought by Iberians from the south of the peninsula.  It was brought from Aquitaine in the north of the peninsula, due to the difficulty of transporting from the south.  In time, the wheat of Iberia came to be considered the best in the Roman Empire and became one of the main articles of foreign trade.  Foods found in archaeological excavations include diverse types of legumes, onions and garlic.  The olive was introduced by the Phoenicians.  The other major components of a Spanish meal are tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and beans.

As early as Roman times, we can say that, with the exception of products later imported from the Americas, many modern foods were consumed, although mostly by the aristocracy, not the middle class.  Cooking references from that era discuss the eating habits in Rome, where dishes from all the Empire’s provinces were brought.  For example, it is known that thousands of amphoras of oil were sent to Rome from Spain.  Nonetheless, consumption of animal products from lamb, beef, etc, was more common than the consumption of veggies.

Already in that era, cabbages were well-known and appreciated and considered a panacea for various ailments.  Other popular vegetables of that time were thistles (such as artichokes) and onions.  In Roman Spain the hams of Pomeipolis (Pamplona) had great prestige.  The export of pork products became the basis of a strong local economy.  It is almost certain that lentils were already consumed in Roman Spain because they formed a staple food for the army and they are easy to preserve and transport.  Fava beans were known from antiquity and were considered sacred by the Romans.  In the Saturnalia, the later December festival in honour of Saturn, fava beans were used to choose the king of the festival.  This custom is believed to be the source of the present day custom of hiding an object in the Roscón de Reyes (like the sixpence in a Xmas pudding tradition).  Until quite recently, that object was a fava bean.

In this era, the wealthy ate while lying in bed (a custom acquired from the Greeks) and using their hands because forks were still unknown.  Tablecloths were introduced in the 1st century.  They came to use two plates - one flat and the other deep, which they held with the left hand.  Knives were known but not particularly needed at a table because the dishes were cut up by slaves into bite-size pieces.  They used spoons, which, like today, had different sizes depending on what they were used for.  The first spoons were made from clam shells (hence the name cuchara) with silver handles.

Among the multitude of recipes that make up the varied cuisines of Spain, a few can be considered common to all or almost all of Spain’s regions, even though some of them have an origin known and associated with specific places.  Examples include the potato omelette (tortilla de patata, tortilla español or just tortilla), gazpacho, paella, stews, migas, sausages (such as chorizo and morcilla), jamon serrano and cheeses.  There are many dishes based on beans (chickpeas, lentils, green beans), soups and bread that has numerous forms with distinct varieties in each region.  The regional variations are less pronounced in Spanish desserts and cakes - flan, custard, rice pudding, churros and madeleines are some of the most representative examples.

HISTORY OF CHAMPAGNE

We continue our history of drink and this month take a look at champagne, the sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of wine to effect carbonation.  It is named after the Champagne region of France.  While the term “champagne” has often been used by makers of sparkling wine in other parts of the world, many claim it should properly be used to refer only to the wines made in the Champagne region.  This principle is enshrined in the European Union by Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status.

Wines from the Champagne region were already known before medieval times.  Churches owned vineyards and monks produced wine for use in the sacrament of Eucharist.  French kings were traditionally anointed in Reims (often considered the capital of Champagne and world-famous for its champagne).

In the 17th century, still wines of Champagne were the chosen wines for celebration in European countries.  The English were the biggest consumers of Champagne wines.  The first commercial sparkling wine was produced in the Limoux area of Languedoc about 1535.  They did not invent it - nobody knows who first made it, although both the Russians and the English can make a reasonably good claim.  In the Middle Ages and Early Modern period, it is recorded that they added sugar and molasses to imported wine and bottled it.  The English claim is given some substance as they had developed sufficiently strong bottles to withstand the very high pressures created by fermentation.  Contrary to popular belief, the French monk Dom Perignon did not invent champagne, although it is almost certainly true that he developed many advances in the production of this beverage, including the method in which the cork is held in place with a wire collar due to pressure building up during the fermentation process.

Somewhere at the end of the 17th century, the sparkling method was imported to the Champagne region from Russia, associated with specific procedures for production (including smooth pressing and dosage) and stronger bottles (invented in England) that could hold the added pressure.  Around 1700, sparkling Champagne as we know it today was born.

In the European Union and many other countries, the name “Champagne” is legally protected as part of the Treaty of Madrid (1891) to mean only sparkling wine produced in its namesake region and adhering to the standards defined for that name as an Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée.  This right was re-affirmed in the Treaty of Versailles following World War I.  As of 2005, the description most often legally used for wines produced like champagne is méthode traditionnelle.  There are sparkling wines made all over the world, and many producers use special terms to define their own sparkling wines: Spain uses Cava, Italy calls it Spumante and in Germany, Sekt is a common sparkling wine.  Other regions of France are forbidden to use the name Champagne; for example, wine-makers in Burgundy and Alsace produce Crémant.  However, some Crémant producers label their product in a manner apparently designed to mislead consumers into believing that they are actually purchasing Champagne.

Méthode Champenoise is the traditional method by which Champagne (and some sparkling wine) is produced.  After primary fermentation and bottling, a second alcoholic fermentation occurs in the bottle.  This second fermentation is induced by adding several other ingredients to completely develop all the flavour.  For years where the harvest is exceptional, a millesimé is declared.  This means that the champagne will be very good and has to mature for at least 3 years.  During this time the champagne bottle is capped with a crown cap.  The bottle is then riddled so that the lees settle in the neck of the bottle.  The neck is then frozen and the cap removed.  The pressure in the bottle forces out the lees and the bottle is quickly corked to maintain the carbon monoxide in solution.

There are over 100 champagne houses and 15,000 smaller vignerons (vine-growing producers) operating in Champagne.  These companies manage 32,000 hectares of vineyards in the region and employ over 10,000 people.  Annual sales by all producers total over 300 million bottles per year, equating roughly to 4.3 billion euros of revenue.  About two-thirds of these sales are made by the large champagne houses and their major brands.  58% of total production is sold within France, with the remaining 42% being exported around the world - primarily to the UK, the US and Germany.  At any one time, champagne producers hold a stock of about 1 billion bottles which are being matured, equating to more than three years of sales volume.

The popularity of Champagne is attributed to the success of Champagne producers in marketing the wine.  Champagne houses promoted the wine’s image as a drink of royalty and the aristocracy with labels and posters touting the wealthy consumers of a particular brand.  Laurent-Perrier’s ads in the late 1890s boasted that their champagne was the favourite of King Leopold II of Belgium, George I of Greece, Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Margaret Cambridge, Marchioness of Cambridge and John Lambton, 3rd Earl of Durham among other noblemen, knights and military officers.  Despite this royal prestige, the champagne houses also took pains to portray champagne as a luxury that could be enjoyed by anyone and for any occasion.  This seemed to work as by the turn of the 20th century, the majority of champagne consumers were the growing middle class.

Champagne is a single Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée.  Grapes must be the white Chardonnay, or the red Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier.  A few very rare other grapes that were historically important are allowed, but very unusual.  Champagne is typically light in colour even if it is produced with red grapes, because the juice is extracted from the grapes using a gentle process that minimises the amount of time the juice spends in contact with the skins, which is what gives red wine its colour.  The amount of sugar added after the second fermentation and ageing also varies through brut, extra-dry, sec, demi-sec and doux.  Most Champagne is non-vintage, produced from a blend of years, while that produced from a single vintage is labelled with the year.  Many Champagnes are produced from bought-in grapes by well-known brands such as Veuve Clicquot or Mumm.

Champagne corks are built from several sections and are referred to as agglomerated corks.  The mushroom shape that occurs in the transition is due to the bottom section, which is in contact with the wine.  Prior to insertion, a sparkling wine cork is almost 50% larger than the opening of the bottle.  Originally they start as a cylinder and are compressed prior to insertion into the bottle.  Over time the shape becomes more permanent and the distinctive “mushroom” shape becomes more apparent.

The deliberate spraying of Champagne has become an integral part of some sports trophy presentations, such as the famous presentation at the end of a Formula 1 Grand Prix.  To avoid spilling it, however, it can be opened by holding the cork and turning the bottle (rather than the cork).  By using a 45 degree angle, the surface of the Champagne has the maximum surface area and so minimises the excessive bubbling.  The cork can ease out with a whisper rather than a pop!!

COLA CAO

Cola Cao is a high energy chocolate drink with vitamins and minerals that originated in Spain but is now marketed in several countries.  It is produced by Barcelona based company Nutrexpa.

Ingredients in Cola Cao include Cacao preparation, cola nut extract, 8 vitamins, calcium, phosphor and iron.

Cola Cao comes in powder form and is meant to be mixed with milk but can also be mixed with water or Soya milk.  It can also be added to breakfast cereal or used as a baking ingredient.

Cola Cao is a popular accompaniment to breakfast, lunch or dinner (especially throughout Spain), and it is served at almost all cafes.  It is much thicker than the hot chocolate drinks found in many other countries and is often served with a spoon.  It is sold in containers of many different sizes, the most common being plastic tubs holding 400g and single serving sachets.

It is exported to various countries but its biggest markets are Spain, Portugal, Chile and China (known as Gao-le-Gao), where Nutrexpa offices are located.  It was introduced to Japan in the early 1990s but was discontinued a few years later.  However, this year, Cola Cao Chocolate Roll Cakes, manufactured in China, are sold at dollar stores.

Cola Cao factories have production lines unique to each region:

European market factory in Barcelona - Cola Cao Original, Light, Turbo, Fibre, Energy and Complet

South American market factory in Santiago, Chile - Cola Cao Original, Light, Cola Cao Cereal

Asian market factory in Tianjin, China - Cola Cao Original, Fruit Flavour, Cola Cao Roll Cake, Cola Cao Spread

In 1962, with the arrival of television to Spain, the first commercials started, with some animated cartoons.  Ten years later, in 1972, Cola Cao came to be the Olympic Food for the Olympic athletes of Munich 72.  1989 in the year that Cola Cao arrived in China and in 1992, it returned to be the Olympic food for the Barcelona Games.

HISTORY OF ABSINTHE

We continue our history of drink and this month take a look at absinthe, a highly alcoholic, anise-flavoured spirit derived from herbs.

Absinthe is typically green (either naturally or with added colour) and because of its high proof and concentration of oils, absintheurs (absinthe drinkers) typically add three to five parts ice-cold water to a dose of absinthe, which causes the drink to cloud, called ‘louching’.

Absinthe originated in Switzerland as an elixir/tincture used as patent medicines.  However, it is better known for its popularity in the late 19th and early 20th century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers.  At the height of its popularity, absinthe was portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug; the chemical thujone was blamed for most of its deleterious effects.  By 1915, it was banned in a number of European countries and the US.  Even though it was vilified, no evidence shows it to be any more dangerous or psychoactive than ordinary alcohol.  A modern absinthe revival began in the 1990s, as countries in the European Union began to re-authorise its manufacture and sale.

The precise origin of absinthe is unclear.  The medical use of wormwood dates back to ancient Egypt and is mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus, circa 1550 BCE.  Wormwood extracts and wine-soaked wormwood leaves were used as remedies by the ancient Greeks.  The first clear evidence of absinthe in the modern sense of a distilled spirit containing green anise and fennel, however, dates to the 18th century, but may be older.  According to popular legend, however, absinthe began as an all-purpose patent remedy created by Dr Pierre Ordinaire, a French doctor living in Couvet, Switzerland, around 1792.  His recipe was passed on to the Henriod sisters of Couvet, who sold absinthe as a medicinal elixir.  A man named Major Dubied acquired the formula from the sisters and in 1797, with his son Marcellin and son-in-law Henry-Louis Pernod, opened the first absinthe distillery in Couvet.  In 1805 they built a second distillery in Pontarlier, France.  Absinthe’s popularity grew steadily until the late 1840s when absinthe was given to French troops as a fever preventative.  When the troops returned home, they brought their taste for absinthe with them and it became popular at bars and bistros.

By the 1860s, absinthe had become so popular that in most cafes and cabarets, 5pm signalled l’heure verte (the green hour).  Still, it remained expensive and was favoured mainly by the bourgeoisie and eccentric Bohemian artists.  By the 1880s, however, the price had dropped significantly, the market expanded and absinthe soon became the drink of France.  By 1910, the French were consuming 36 million litres of absinthe per year.

Spurred by the temperance movement and wine makers’ associations, absinthe was publicised in connection with several violent crimes supposedly committed under the influence of the drink.  This, combined with rising hard-liquor consumption caused by the wine shortage in France during the 1880s and 1890s, effectively labelled absinthe a social menace.  In 1905, it was reported that a man named Jean Lanfray murdered his family and attempted to kill himself after drinking absinthe.  The fact that he was an alcoholic who had drunk considerably after the two glasses of absinthe in the morning was overlooked and the murders were blamed solely on absinthe.  The murders were the last straw and a petition to ban absinthe in Switzerland was quickly signed by over 82,000 people.

HISTORY OF VODKA

We continue our history of drink and this month take a look at vodka.

Vodka is one of the world’s most consumed distilled beverages.  It is typically a colourless liquid containing ethanol purified by distillation from a fermented substance such as grain.  Except for various types of flavourings, vodka consists of water and alcohol (ethanol) and usually has an alcohol content of between 35 and 50%.  The classic Russian vodka is 40%.  This can be attributed to the Russian standards for vodka production introduced in 1894 by Alexander III from research undertaken by the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev.  According to the Vodka Museum in Moscow, Mendeleev found the perfect percentage to be 38 but since spirits in his time were taxed on their strength, the percentage was rounded up to 40 to simplify the tax computation.  At strengths less than this, vodka drunk neat can taste ‘watery’ and above this strength, the taste can have more ‘burn’.  Some governments set a minimum alcohol content for a spirit to be called ‘vodka’ - for example, the European Union sets a minimum of 37.5% alcohol by volume.

The origins of vodka and of its name cannot be traced definitively, but it is believed to have originated in the grain-growing region that now embraces Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine and western Russia.  The word vodka can be found in the Primary Chronicle of Novgorod dating to 1533 where the term vodka is used in the context of herbal alcoholic tinctures.  The word vodka began to appear in Russian dictionaries in the mid 19th century.

For many centuries beverages contained little alcohol.  It is estimated that the maximum amount was about 16% as only this amount is reachable by means of natural fermentation.  The still allowing for distillation was invented in the 8th century.  The process of distillation was kept a secret for a long time.  The first description of distilling apparatus comes from the 13th century.

In Poland, vodka has been produced since the early Middle Ages and the first written record of vodka in Poland dates from 1405.  However, the first industrial distillery was opened in 1782.  After World War II, all vodka distilleries were taken over by Poland’s communist government.  During the 1980s, the sale of vodka was rationed and after the victory of the Solidarity movement, all distilleries were privatised, leading to an explosion of brands.

A drink similar to modern vodka first appeared in Russia probably sometime between 950-1100.  It was not originally called vodka but called bread wine.  Until the mid 18th century, it remained relatively low on alcohol content and didn’t exceed 60% by volume.  It was mostly sold in taverns and was quite expensive - in the 17th century, a keg (12 litres) of bread wine was estimated to cost as much as one and a half or two cows.

The first written usage of the word vodka in an official Russian document in its modern meaning is dated by the decree of Empress Elizabeth of June 8, 1751, which regulated the ownership of vodka distilleries.  The taxes on vodka became a key element of government finances in Tsarist Russia, providing at times up to 40% of state revenue.  By the 1860s, due to the government policy of promoting consumption of state-manufactured vodka, it became the drink of choice for many Russians.  In 1863, the government monopoly on vodka production was repealed, causing prices to plummet and making vodka available even to low-income citizens.  Most recent estimates (2001) say that vodka comprises around 89% of all alcohol consumed in Russia.

Vodka is now one of the world’s most popular spirits.  It was rarely consumed outside of Europe before the 1950s but by 1975, vodka sales in the US overtook those of bourbon, previously the most popular hard liquor and the native spirit of that country.  In the second half of the 20th century, vodka owed its popularity in part to its reputation as an alcoholic beverage that “leaves you breathless”, as one ad put it - no smell of liquor remains detectable on the breath.

Vodka may be distilled from any starch/sugar-rich plant matter; most vodka today is produced from grains such as sorghum, corn, rye or wheat.  Among grain vodkas, rye and wheat are generally considered superior vodkas.  Some vodka is made from potatoes, molasses, soybeans, grapes, sugar beets and sometimes even by-products of oil refining or wood pulp processing.  In some Central European countries like Poland, some vodka is produced by just fermenting a solution of crystal sugar and yeast.  In the European Union, talks about the standardisation of vodka, the Vodka Belt countries insist that only spirits produced from grains and potato must be allowed to be branded as ‘vodka’ following the traditional methods of production.

A common property of vodkas produced in the USA and Europe is the extensive use of filtration prior to any additional processing, such as the addition of flavourants.  Filtering is sometimes done in the still during distillation, as well as afterward, where the distilled vodka is filtered through charcoal and other media.  This is because under US and European law vodka must not have any distinctive aroma, character, colour or flavour.  However, this is not the case in the traditional vodka producing nations, so many distillers from these countries prefer to use very accurate distillation but minimal filtering, thus preserving the unique flavours and characteristics of their products.

Proper distillation and excluding some of the heads also removes methanol from vodka (and other distilled liquors), which can be poisonous in larger amounts.  Methanol is formed when cellulose is fermented.  This can be avoided by fermenting sugar with a high quality Turbo Yeast, so little methanol is formed.  A fermentation of sugar, water and Turbo Yeast will typically produce 1ppm (one millionth) in the mash.  This is much less methanol than found in ordinary orange juice and about one twentieth of that found in commercial whisky and cognac.

Repeated distillation of vodka will make its ethanol level much higher than legally allowed.  As such, most vodka is diluted with water prior to bottling.  This level of distillation is what truly separates a rye-based vodka (for example) from a rye whisky; while the whisky is generally only distilled down its final alcohol content, vodka is distilled until it is almost totally pure alcohol and then cut with water to give it its final alcohol content and unique flavour, depending on the source of the water.

In some countries vodka is considered an essential addition to meals, especially meat dishes.  As for English-speaking countries, in addition to its widespread popularity in pre-missed drinks, it has recently obtained a particular cult popularity; the exotic ‘vodka bars’ have made an impression upon the nightclub scenes, e.g. in Australian cities.

There are many cocktails with vodka in.  These include Black Russian, Bloody Mary, Harvey Wallbanger, Cosmopolitan, Moscow Mule, Sex on the Beach, Screwdriver, Vodka Martini, Vodka Red Bull, White Russian, Brass Monkey, Appletini, Kamikaze, Madras, Polish Martini, Red Lotus, Godmother, Mind Eraser, Sea Breeze, Vodka Gimlet and Vodka McGovern.  Mind you, I quite like a straight-forward vodka and lemonade with a splash of lime juice, loads of ice and a slice of lemon.  Mmmmmmm

NONI FRUIT (also known as vomit fruit or cheese fruit)

If any of you have watched “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here”, then you most definitely will have heard of and seen this fruit, as celebrities have to eat some of this foul fruit to earn proper food for the camp.

It is native to Southeast Asia but has been spread by man throughout India and into the Pacific Islands as far as Tahiti and parts of the West Indies.  It grows in shady forests and on open rocky or sandy shores.  It reaches maturity in about 18 months and then yields 4-8kg of fruit every month throughout the year (the only tree in the world to bear fruit 365 days of the year).  It is tolerant of saline soils, drought conditions and secondary soils and is therefore found in a wide variety of habitats.  It can grow up to 9m tall and has large, simple, dark green, shiny and deeply veined leaves.  The fruit has a pungent odour when ripening, hence its other names - cheese fruit and vomit fruit!  Despite its strong smell and bitter taste, the fruit is eaten as a famine food and in some Pacific Islands, even a staple food, either raw or cooked.  The flowers are small and white and the fruit is oval and reaches 4-7cm in size.  At first the fruit is green, then turns yellow and then almost white as it ripens.

In China, Samoa, Japan and Tahiti, various parts of the tree (leaves, flowers, fruits, bark, roots) serve as tonics and to contain fevers, to treat eye and skin problems, gum and throat problems and constipation, stomach pain or respiratory problems.  In Malaysia, heated noni leaves applied to the chest are believed to relieve coughs, nausea and colic.  In Indochina, the fruit is taken for asthma, lumbago and dysentery.  Unripe fruits can be pounded then mixed with salt and applied to cut or broken bones.  In Hawaii, ripe fruits are applied to draw out pus from an infected boil.  The fruit is also used as a shampoo in Malaysia where it is said to be helpful against head lice.

Scientific studies have investigated noni’s effect on the growth of cancerous tissue.  One such study found that noni inhibited and reduced growth of the capillary vessels sprouting from human breast tumour explants and another scientific study showed one brand of noni juice to have prevented formation of cancer cells in rats.

Noni juice was first brought to the commercial market by a company named Morinda Inc in 1995, which continues to market noni juice today under its subsidiary company Tahitian Noni International.  There are now around 300 companies marketing nini juice and most of the juice in the world being consumed comes from French Polynesia.  In fact, noni juice has surpassed the black pearl to become the number one export of French Polynesia.

Last year, researchers at the University of Illinois College of Medicine reported results of a study of smokers.  They found that adult smokers drinking noni juice for a month had significantly lower cholesterol.

LICQUORICE

Native to Asia and the Mediterranean region, liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is a tall shrub (4-5 feet) and has blue or violet flowers.  Most commercial liquorice is extracted from varieties of G glabra.  The most common variety, G glabra var. typical (Spanish liquorice), is characterised by blue flowers, while the variety G glabra var. glandulifera (Russian liquorice) has violet blossoms.  The name glycyrrhiza comes from Greek words meaning “sweet root”.  The roots contain the medicinally active constituents.

Liquorice extract is produced by boiling liquorice root and subsequently evaporating most of the water.  Liquorice extract is traded both in solid and syrup form.  The glycyrrhizin is its active principle and is a sweetener more than 50 times as sweet as sucrose.

Liquorice flavour is found in a wide variety of liquorice sweets.  The most popular in the UK are very sweet Liquorice Allsorts.  In continental Europe, however, far stronger, saltier sweets are preferred.  In most of these sweets, though, the taste is reinforced by aniseed oil and the actual content of liquorice is quite low.  Liquorice is also found in some soft drinks (such as root beer) and in some herbal teas where it provides a sweet aftertaste.  The flavour is also common in medicines to disguise unpleasant flavours.

Liquorice is popular in Italy, particularly in the south, in its natural form.  Here, the root of the plant is dug up, washed and chewed as a mouth freshener.  Throughout Italy unsweetened liquorice is eaten in the form of small black pieces made only from 100% pure liquorice extract - the taste is bitter and intense.

Powdered liquorice root is an effective expectorant and has been used for this since ancient times. Modern cough syrups often contain liquorice extract.  Liquorice is also a mild laxative but if taken in excess, it is known to be toxic to the liver and to the cardiovascular system and may produce hypertension and oedema.

When I was a child, I remember my parents calling liquorice “Spanish”.  I often wondered why.  Well, it appears that the lack of UK-grown liquorice meant that it had to be imported, firstly from Spain and that is why the “older” folks (sorry!!) call it Spanish.  I also remember being able to buy liquorice sticks - they looked like wooden sticks but could be chewed on.  I don’t know if you can still buy them.

>> Liquorice was found in the tombs of ancient Egyptian Pharaohs

>> Miners sucked liquorice wafers whilst down the pit to quench their thirst

>> During WWII women would lick the red liquorice comforts sweets and rub the red colouring onto their lips as a lipstick substitute

>> Native Americans used liquorice to alleviate pain in difficult childbirth (is there an easy childbirth???)

>> The waste root of liquorice is crushed and made into chemical wood pulp, pressed into boards and made into boxes

>> Liquorice has been a mainstay of traditional Chinese medicine for over 3,000 years

>> You can now apparently get liquorice in a variety of flavours - apple, mango, blackcurrant, watermelon and strawberry, among others...

HISTORY OF GIN

We continue our history of drink and this month take a look at Gin.

The first confirmed date for the production of gin is the early 17th century in Holland, although claims have been made that it was produced prior to this in Italy.  In Holland it was produced as a medicine and sold in chemist shops to treat stomach complaints, gout and gallstones.  To make it more palatable, the Dutch started to flavour it with juniper, which has medicinal properties of its own.

British troops fighting in the Low Countries during the Thirty Years’ War were given ‘Dutch Courage’ during the long campaigns in the damp weather through the warming properties of gin.  Eventually they started bringing it back home with them, where already it was often sold in chemists’ shops.  Distillation was taking place in a small way in England, but it began on a greater scale, though the quality was often very dubious.  The new drink became a firm favourite with the poor.

Members of the formation by King Charles I of the Worshipful Company of Distillers hold the right to distil spirits in London and Westminster.  It improved both the quality of gin and its image, it also helped English agriculture by using surplus corn and barley.

When King William III, better known as William of Orange came to the English throne in 1689, he made a series of statues actively encouraging the distillation of English spirits.  Anyone could now distil by simply posting a notice in public and just waiting 10 days.  Sometimes gin was distributed to workers as part of their wages and soon the volume sold daily exceeded that of beer and ale, which was more expensive.

In 1729, an excise license of £20 was introduced and two shillings per gallon duty was levied.  Retailers also required a license.  This almost suppressed good gin, but the quantity consumed of bad spirits continued to rise.

Abuse of alcohol by the poor became a major problem, which was tackled by introducing The Gin Act at midnight on 29 September 1739, making gin prohibitively expensive.  The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole and Dr Samuel Johnson were among those who opposed the Act since they considered it could not be enforced against the will of the common people.  They were right.  Riots broke out and the law was widely and openly broken.  About this time, 11 million gallons of gin were distilled in London which was over 20 times the 1690 figure and has been estimated to be the equivalent of 14 gallons for each adult male.  During 6 years of the Gin Act, only two distillers took out licenses, yet production rose by almost 50%.

The Gin Act was finally repealed in 1742 and a new policy was introduced with the help of distillers: reasonably high prices, reasonable excise duties and licensed retailers under the supervision of magistrates.  In essence this is the situation which exists today.  Since then many companies established themselves as well-to-do manufacturers and the gin became the drink of high quality.

Gin has been known as Mother’s Milk from the 1820s but later in the century it became known as Mother’s Ruin, a description perhaps originating from the earlier Blue Ruin of the prohibition era in the previous century.

PEPPER

Pepper, the condiment, is a spice made by grinding the dried berry of a plant called Piper nigrum.  This vine, which can grow up to 10 feet tall, is indigenous to Asia and nowadays grown mainly in India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil.  The dried berries are called peppercorns and come in black, white and green versions depending on when they were picked.  This is true pepper and should not be confused with the capsicum family, which includes bell pepper, red pepper, chilli pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper etc.

Black pepper, the spiciest and most pungent, is made from berries that are picked while still unripe.  The berries used for white pepper are ripened on the vine and then soaked so that their outer hulls can be easily removed, resulting in a hotter, less subtle and mildly fermented flavour.  Green pepper is made from immature berries which are packed in brine or freeze-dried for preservation and has a milder, fresher taste.  The black and white forms have long been used to flavour all types of dishes in cuisines worldwide and it has become a virtually universal table condiment.  However, pepper was even less likely to be on the table in any traditional French or Spanish establishment than salt, for the same reason: the cook should decide how much was needed in any dish, not the person eating it.  Nowadays, it is common for black or white pepper and salt to be provided and the shakers are the opposite of those in Britain - the one with a single hole is for pepper and the one with more holes is for salt.

Pepper is mentioned in 3,000 year old Sanskrit literature.  It was one of the earliest items traded between Asia and Europe and has been an important spice in Spain since Roman times.  In the Middle Ages, Europeans often used pepper to pay rent, dowries and taxes.  Shakespeare mentions pepper in several of his plays.  The need for pepper was one of the motives for Portuguese and Spanish exploration in the 15th century.

Misconceptions regarding the nature and origins of pepper stem back to Columbus.  He believed he had found a new type of fruit source for pepper and thus named it pimiento.  What Columbus had really found was a form of capsicum plant known by the local indigenous Arawaks as axi or aji, which is the name still used for many varieties of hot pepper.  Nowadays English speakers usually refer to these as chilli peppers of which there are a huge variety.

There is a very wide range of chilli peppers which can be confusing because their level of flavour or heat can often only be identified by tasting, by which stage you can be suffering from second degree burns to your mouth.  In 1912, Wilbur Scoville developed a system of rating the heat of every kind of capsicum pepper (known as the ‘Scoville Scale’)The higher the number, the hotter the pepper.  The numbers are given as a range because hot weather and moisture stress make hot peppers hotter, whereas cool, stress-free growing conditions produce peppers at the milder end of the scale.  Thus sweet bell peppers come in at 0-100, Ancho chilli peppers are 1,000-3,000 and are the most commonly used pepper in Mexico, Jalapeño peppers are 55,000 and have become quite popular in recent years, the crushed red chilli pepper used in Pakistani dishes rate at 20,000-40,000 and finally there are the Habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers which rate at a scary 100,000-350,000.  They are so called because they look like old fashioned tam o’ shanter berets from Scotland and they are apparently lethal.  Hotter varieties of chilli peppers are not greatly appreciated in Spain with the exception of Galicia, Extremadura and the Canary Islands.