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The Hirshon Old English Apple Christmas Drink – Lambswool for Wassail

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The Hirshon Old English Apple Christmas Drink - Lambswool for Wassail

Lambswool Image Used Under Creative Commons License From missfoodwise.com

My Citizens – Merry Christmas to you and yours from the Empyrean glory wherein TFD resides on high in culinary resplendence!

In honor of this holiday, today I will be sharing not one but TWO unique and nearly lost recipes from 400 years ago in England and the Island of Man, respectively!

First, this delicious and ancient drink with the unusual and evocative name of Lambswool!

As noted on oakden.co.uk:

This Lambswool, (or Lamb’s Wool) is one of the traditional drinks of the ‘Wassail’, (or Apple Howling) it is either so called after the light colour and frothy appearance of the drink on the surface, or, as Richard Cook in 1835 believes, it stems from being served at the ancient Celtic pagan festival of La mas ubal, that is, ‘The Day of the Apple Fruit’; and being pronounced lamasool, it was corrupted to Lambs Wool. The drink is made with a sweet-spiced hot ale (or cider) and roasted apples.

To fully understand the traditions of the wassail in summary we can look at Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, published in 1756, which says the ‘Wassail’ was: “a liquor made of apples, sugar, and ale; a drunken bout; a merry song”. Yet the word wassailderives from the much older, ‘Old English’ (Anglo-Saxon) words wæs (þu) hæl which means ‘be healthy’ or ‘be whole’ – both of which meanings survive in the modern English phrase to be, ‘hale and hearty’ – while the first written reference to wassailing dates back to a medieval 1486-93 AD record, for wassail payments made at the New Year, at St Mary De Pre Priory (in St Albans).

A traditional and authentic recipe given is from a 1633 source and a poem first published in 1648. The poem by Robert Herrick entitled, ‘Twelfe-Night’, or ‘King and Queene’ describes several practices seen at 12th Night. Other recipes for Lambswool Wassel, or Wassail, printed around this time are also very similar. However it should be noted that this very simple Lambswool ale recipe will probably have pre-dated this time period (1600s) considerably, perhaps going back to the pagan Anglo-Saxons and Celts, with honey replacing the sugar.

To Wassail: On twelfth-night, (either the new one on the 5th January or the old one on the 17th January) toast a thick slice of rustic bread and place it into the bottom of a communal bowl. Then pour in the prepared lambswool. Take the bowl out into your garden, field or orchard, with friends and family, carrying lighted torches aflame, and pots and pans to beat with wooden spoons and sticks, (with more toast to hang in the branches of the trees and more cups of lambswool to drink and splash around to bless the area).

Make noise and light, crying “wassail! wassail!” (or sing one of the many rhymes) to drive off the unwanted spirits of the old year – beat the trunks of the trees with the sticks and splash the trunks with a little Lamb’s Wool. After everyone present has taken a drink from the lambswool (from the communal wassail bowl) pour a little of the lambswool and soggy toast from the bowl into the ground around the roots of a tree and put further fresh pieces of toast, dipped in lambswool, into the branches as a token to the new spirits of the new year, and a nod to the old ways of doing things.

If wassailing the apple trees sing: “Apple tree, apple tree, we all come to wassail thee, Bear this year and next year to bloom and to blow, Hat fulls, cap fulls, three cornered sack fills, Hip, Hip, Hip, hurrah, Holler biys, holler hurrah.” or … “Here stands a good apple tree, stand fast root, Every little twig bear an apple big, Hats full, caps full, and three score sacks full, Hip! Hip! Hurrah!”l

Citizens, this recipe is several centuries old to begin with, but I’ve brought it back millenia further with the addition of mead, the ancient honey beer of the Celts, into the Middle Ages with a tiny bite of grains of paradise, a spice used in several Medieval drinks and into the realm of the French Celts with a bit of Calvados, the apple brandy from Normandy. Feel free to omit them if you prefer.

Again, Merry Christmas!

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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The Hirshon Old English Apple Christmas Drink – Lambswool for Wassail

The Hirshon Old English Apple Christmas Drink – Lambswool for Wassail

Ingredients

  • 1 Liter (2 x 500ml bottles) traditional real ale or traditional hard cider (TFD prefers cider)
  • ½ Liter honey mead - TFD addition, optional - replace with hard cider or ale for traditional version
  • About 6 Bramley or Cox stewing apples, 500 gr (peeled and cored, about 300 gr)
  • 2 tbsp Calvados (apple brandy) TFD ADDITION - optional but recommended
  • ½ tsp freshly-ground grains of paradise - TFD addition, very, VERY optional but TFD likes it
  • 1 nutmeg, freshly grated
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 150g light brown sugar (demerara)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 120C
  2. Prepare the apples in advance: time it so they are ready when you want to put them into the lambswool to serve.
  3. Core the 6 apples fully, getting rid of the pips. Lightly grease the baking tray. Sprinkle optional Calvados on apples. Place the apples on the baking tray about 6cm (2 inches) apart – they will swell up a little. Bake the apples at 120C for about an hour or so – so they become soft and pulpy and the skins are easy to peel away.
  4. In a large thick bottomed saucepan (which is quite tall to avoid splashes when whisking) add the sugar. Cover the sugar in a small amount of the ale (or cider) and mead and heat gently. Stir continuously until the sugar has dissolved.
  5. Then add in the ground ginger and grate in the whole of the nutmeg. Stir, and keeping the pan on a gentle simmer, slowly add in all the rest of the ale (or cider). Leave for 10 minutes on a gentle heat as you deal with the apples.
  6. Take the baked apples out of the oven to cool slightly for 10 minutes – they should now be soft and pulpy.
  7. Break open the apples and scoop out the baked flesh into a bowl, discarding the skin. Then take a fork and mash this apple pulp up, while it is still warm, into a smooth purée with no lumps. Add the apple purée into the ale (or cider) lambswool, mixing it in with a whisk.
  8. Let the saucepan continue to warm everything through for thirty minutes, on a very gentle heat, until ready to drink. When warmed through use the whisk again for a couple of minutes (or use a stick blender) to briskly and vigorously froth the drink up and mix everything together.
  9. The apple and light froth will float to the surface, and depending on how much you have whisked it, the more it looks like lamb’s wool. Note: to traditionally froth drinks up they were normally poured continuously between two large serving jugs to get air into the drink.
  10. Ladle the hot Lambswool into heat-proof mugs or glasses and grate over some nutmeg, or pour the drink into a communal bowl (with several thick pieces of toast in the bottom) to pass around if wassailing.
https://www.thefooddictator.com/the-hirshon-old-english-apple-christmas-drink-lambswool-for-wassail/

The Hirshon Frosted Southern Cooler

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The Hirshon Frosted Southern Cooler

Southern Cooler Image Used Under Creative Commons License From spiceandtea.com

Citizens, if there is one thing that the Carpetbagger known as TFD has learned from his Southern in-laws, it is this: southerners REALLY know how to concoct refreshing drinks for hot days!

However, while my DNA may be 99.99% Eastern European Jewish (via NYC) according to 23andme, my soul is assuredly reborn south of the Mason-Dixon Line!

As such, allow the admirer of the Antebellum that is your Citizen Prime to share my latest thirst-quenching creation with you!

I believe it will find favor with all of you, Northerner or Southerner alike. 🙂 Should you choose to spike this with a little (or a lot) of Woodford Reserve Double Oaked for an adult beverage punch (#punintended), I most certainly salute your alcohol decision!

Speaking of punch – did you know that the term punch refers to a wide assortment of drinks, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice. The drink was introduced from India to the United Kingdom in the early seventeenth century, and from there its use spread to other countries. Punch is typically served at parties in large, wide bowls, known as punch bowls.

The word punch is actually a loanword from the Sanskrit पञ्च (pañca), meaning “five”, as the drink was originally made with five ingredients: alcohol, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices.

The drink was brought to England from India by sailors and employees of the British East India Company in the early 17th century. From there it was introduced into other European countries. When served communally, the drink is expected to be of a lower alcohol content than a typical cocktail.

The term punch was first recorded in British documents in 1632. At the time, most punches were of the wassail type made with a wine or brandy base. But around 1655, Jamaican rum came into use, and the “modern” punch emerged. By 1671, documents make references to punch houses.

Non-alcoholic varieties of punch, which are especially given to children as well as adults who do not drink alcohol, typically include a mix of some fruit drink such as juice, water, and a sweetener like sugar.

A drink closely associated with Kentucky and other Southern states, sweet bourbon punch is made with sweet tea (a signature drink of the South), citrus flavors and bourbon whiskey. Bourbon is named for Bourbon County, Kentucky, and each year during the Kentucky Derby, recipes for bourbon punch abound.

Whether boozy or virgin, my cooler will become your new go-to thirst quencher in the heat of Summer – of that, I can assure you!

Battle on – the Generalissimo

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The Hirshon Frosted Southern Cooler

The Hirshon Frosted Southern Cooler

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 pint water
  • 1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple, with juice - pureed in blender
  • Zest and juice of 4 well-washed lemons - TFD prefers Meyer lemons if you can find them
  • Zest and juice of 1 well-washed lime
  • 1 cup ice-cold bottled water
  • 3 cups ice-cold peach-flavored iced tea
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • Blueberries for garnish
  • Mint sprigs for garnish
  • Woodford Reserve Double Oaked bourbon (highly optional)

Instructions

  1. Make a syrup by boiling the sugar and water for 10 minutes. Add the puréed pineapple with juice, lemon zest and juice, and lime zest and juice.
  2. Cool, strain, and add cold water, iced tea, bourbon (if using) and rosemary. Serve over crushed ice, garnished with mint and with blueberries floating in glass.
  3. Note: cooler should be poured from a pitcher and served in a tall or stemmed glass.
https://www.thefooddictator.com/the-hirshon-frosted-southern-cooler/

The Hirshon Old Fashioned

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The Hirshon Old Fashioned

Old Fashioned Image Used Under Creative Commons License From iconiconline.org

Citizens, TFD prefers the classics in both food AND drink – and nothing is more classic than the Old Fashioned cocktail!

The Old Fashioned is a cocktail made by muddling sugar with bitters, then adding alcohol, originally whiskey but now sometimes brandy, and finally a twist of citrus rind. It is traditionally served in a short, round, tumbler-like glass, which is called an Old Fashioned glass, named after the drink.

The Old Fashioned, developed during the 19th century and given its name in the 1880s, is an IBA Official Cocktail. It is also one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury’s The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.

The first documented definition of the word “cocktail” was in response to a reader’s letter asking to define the word in the May 6, 1806 issue of The Balance and Columbian Repository in Hudson, New York. In the May 13, 1806 issue, the paper’s editor wrote that it was a potent concoction of spirits, bitters, water, and sugar; it was also referred to at the time as a bittered sling.

J.E. Alexander describes the cocktail similarly in 1833, as he encountered it in New York City, as being rum, gin, or brandy, significant water, bitters, and sugar, though he includes a nutmeg garnish as well.

By the 1860s, it was common for orange curaçao, absinthe, and other liqueurs to be added to the cocktail. The original concoction, albeit in different proportions, came back into vogue, and was referred to as “old-fashioned”.

The most popular of the in-vogue “old-fashioned” cocktails were made with whiskey, according to a Chicago barman, quoted in the Chicago Daily Tribune in 1882, with rye being more popular than Bourbon. The recipe he describes is a similar combination of spirits, bitters, water and sugar of seventy-six years earlier.

The first use of the name “Old Fashioned” for a Bourbon whiskey cocktail was said to have been at the Pendennis Club, a gentlemen’s club founded in 1881 in Louisville, Kentucky. The recipe was said to have been invented by a bartender at that club in honor of Colonel James E. Pepper, a prominent bourbon distiller, who brought it to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel bar in New York City.

With its conception rooted in the city’s history, in 2015 the city of Louisville named the Old Fashioned as its official cocktail. Each year, during the first two weeks of June, Louisville celebrates “Old Fashioned Fortnight” which encompasses bourbon events, cocktail specials and National Bourbon Day which is always celebrated on June 14

From bogost.com:

The Old Fashioned is one of a few common cocktails for me, both when I’m at home and when I’m out. However, when ordering one at a bar, the likelihood of something going mildly to terribly wrong is disturbingly high.

That in mind, I present the Top 10 Ways Bartenders Screw Up My Old Fashioneds, followed by instructions for how to make one properly.

(10) Garnish

This is not a girlie drink. I do not want a garnish with an orange peel and a cherry attached. A plain swizzle stick is fine.

(9) Glassware

An Old Fashioned is served in an old fashioned glass. Why do you think they call it an old fashioned glass? Don’t get cutesy with me. The sides of the glass should be straight, unless your bar has only stupid angled glassware, in which case I’m not sure why I’m there in the first place.

(8) Bitterless

There was an Angostura bitters shortage last year, and I think a number of bartenders never stopped scrimping. 2-3 generous dashes is appropriate. If I can’t taste the bitters, you did something wrong.

(7) Default Liquor

If you are just pouring from the well instead of asking for a liquor preference, you are cheating me out of a chance to tune the drink to my mood. Unlike a vodka drink, an Old Fashioned’s taste changes considerably based on the type and brand of liquor used. Whiskey, rye, and bourbon are all appropriate choices. I tend to choose different ones at different times.

(6) Warmth

This is just bartending 101, but don’t serve me in a glass you just took out of the dishwasher. Bars ought to keep chilled glasses anyway, but if you don’t, then fill one with ice for a bit while you measure the liquor. Then dump and mix.

(5) Fruit failure

The fruit in an Old Fashioned is an integral part of the drink. If you’re just dropping in a cherry and an orange and the end, may God have mercy on your soul. The fruit should be muddled along with the sugar and bitters. And when I say muddled, I mean lightly disturbed, not mashed into a heap.

(4) Sugar packets

The glass should be prepped with Angostura bitters and simple syrup. Any bar that doesn’t have simple syrup pre-prepared and chilled is mismanaged. It’s appropriate to muddle a sugar cube as an alternative. But dumping sugar packets in the mix and hoping for the best? Unforgivable. (Yes, this has really happened to me.)

(3) Cocktail shakers

Why are you putting my Old Fashioned in a cocktail shaker? Are you crazy? This should be a felony.

(2) Pinkification

While getting a bit of juice from the maraschino cherries into the mix is inevitable, there shouldn’t be more than that. By no means should you be using cherry liquid as a shortcut, to substitute simple syrup. If my drink is pink you are my enemy.

(1) Soda water

Yes, I know this was once common practice. But it’s simply wrong. Utterly, completely wrong. If you absolutely insist, give it a splash and only a splash of soda water, and use it to dissolve the sugar cube; do NOT top off the glass with soda water, ever. But really, just don’t.

Citizens, my version of this deservedly classic drink is as follows, based closely on Dr. Bogost’s version – plus my inimitable tweaks of course! These include using an ice sphere for ultimate chill and minimal dilution, tangerine instead of orange plus a hint of cardamom bitters! Luxardo Maraschino Cherries are not optional! Feel free to abandon any or all of my changes to go with – wait for it – the old fashioned Old Fashioned. 😉

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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The Hirshon Old Fashioned

The Hirshon Old Fashioned

Ingredients

  • A chilled old fashioned glass
  • Crushed ice to chill the bourbon
  • An ice sphere
  • 1 shot Woodford Reserve bourbon - TFD especially likes the "double oaked" version for its smoothness
  • ICE COLD simple syrup
  • 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
  • 1 dash Fee Brothers Cardamom Bitters (highly optional, use Angostura Bitters for classic version)
  • 2 slices Satsuma Tangerines
  • 2 Maraschino Cherries, drained - Luxardo brand ONLY

Instructions

  1. The glass shouldn’t be frosted, it just ought not be room temperature either. If needed, fill with ice and leave sit for a bit while you cut fruit and gather materials. Fill another glass ⅔ with crushed ice.
  2. Measure out 1 shot of Woodford Reserve bourbon.
  3. Here’s why I measure out the liquor so early: you should take your metal shot measurer and nest it in the glass of crushed ice you set aside. This will lower the temperature of the liquor before you mix it.
  4. With prepared, ice-cold simple syrup, just coat the bottom of the glass. Add 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters and 1 dash of Fee Brothers Cardamom bitters - this is a TFD affectation, the original recipe calls for all Angostura bitters.
  5. An Old Fashioned normally has an orange slice and two maraschino cherries. I prefer to use Satsuma tangerines, because they are a better size for fitting in the bottom of an old fashioned glass. Due to the smaller size of the Satsuma, use two slices.
  6. Don’t put the fruit in the glass until the liquor is cold. Don’t use vile neon red fake maraschino cherries - use the originals or go home.
  7. Rotate the glass to coat the bottom and at least ½ the sides. This will spread out the sugar and bitters and help the drink mix itself when you add ice and bourbon. Then drop in the fruit and muddle them.
  8. You don’t want to muddle them too much, just enough to break apart the fibrous pith. Add ½ the chilled bourbon and let sit for 5 minutes, then fish out tangerine slices and cherries. Eat them. 🙂
  9. Add the ice sphere you set aside. Then pour the remaining bourbon over it, and give the works a turn or two with a swizzle stick or a cocktail mixer.
https://www.thefooddictator.com/the-hirshon-old-fashioned/