I’m going to disagree with some of this. Certainly most of what the Arabs were doing with distillation was non-alcoholic. It included petroleum, powders for makeup, extracting essential oils from flowers, and other things. But wine was being distilled for its medicinal properties pretty early on. They write about it, so it hardly seems to be in doubt. And they were doing it in what is today considered geographical Europe.
Which exactly what I said. Early on, Arabic scientist or not. This wasn’t about producing beverages.
They were making alcohol for alchemical and medical reasons.
They weren’t making spirits to get drunk off them, and they weren’t doing it to produce something tasty.
Evidence for distilled beverages. Potable, alcoholic drinks produced and consumed for pleasure. Is later.
We seem to have different definitions of “beverages.” Distilling wine into brandy produces a beverage. Which people consumed. That they called it “medicine” is irrelevant. That they called it “medicinal” in a nudge-nudge-wink-wink way is pretty well attested. Arabs wrote about using it for a sleep aid, to restore “health” and to give them more energy to work.
I’ll grant you, defining “distilled beverages” to mean “liquid alcohol that is consumed for pleasure, as opposed to liquid alcohol consumed for medicine” is definitely out-pedanting me. You win.
Like the Baldwin sisters’ Daddy’s Medicinal on the Waltons:
Like a friend of mine from Jordan, who said “alcohol is prohibited for Muslims. But everyone has a well-stocked medicine cabinet.”
Looks like an asparagus bean/yard long bean.
I think that might be moringa. Maybe.
I defer. Moringa would be interesting, given it’s supposedly an abortifacient.
That’s surprising! I’m not really familiar with the plant, I was just going off of images. The pods are used for cooking, though.
The bark of the plant.
Although, benefits during pregnancy?
Lol
Guess it does everything? Anyway, better find out if it tastes any good before the GOP tries to outlaw it.
Hell, al-khal was the way they described it, which was making it the same way you did khol, or eyeshadow,so the first applications certainly weren’t in that vein.
I found out today in Australia is National Fairy Bread Day. Growing up in the 70’s, no kid’s party was complete without buttered white bread covered in 100’s & 1000’s / sprinkles.
It’s coloured sugar on white bread, basically; the cocaine of the under-8 set, but hey, it was the 70’s.
I always wondered about the fairy part-did the fairies make it? Was it made of fairies? Maybe that was fairy poop?
We called it the “Popes nose “ https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/turkey-tails
Good question - I guess because it’s just pretty and colourful? I like your options better.
Unlike Fairy Liquid, which is made from distilled fairies.
(Sure I remember this line from a “Young Ones” episode but can’t find a reference to it.)
Yum. I’m the only one in my family who eats it. I love the stuff, though.
Stuffing. With oysters.