Colonial Quaff

Colonial Americans of the eighteenth century drank wine liberally as part of a healthy lifestyle. Folk medicine pamphlets of the time suggest wine and herb/ wine tonics as remedies for everything from warts to injuries inflicted by witchcraft. One of the most influential health writers of the time, Christopher Sauer, a Pennsylvanian apothecary, suggested that wine possessed “the noble capacity to warm the stomach, promote digestion, increase and improve the blood, promote circulation, strengthen the constitution and make men merry.” Sauer recommended four ounces (about one glass of wine) each day—before breakfast.

In the South African bread, mosbolletjies, which of the following is an important ingredient?

A. A mixture of grape juice, skins, seeds and stems

B. Minced leaves from muscat vines

C. Indigenous South African cereals soaked in Vin de Constance

D. A pint of traditional South African beer

The brioche-like, buttery South African bread, mosbolletjies (pronounced mos-bol-eh-kis) is leavened with fermenting must— a mixture of grape juice, skins, seeds, and stems. French Huguenot immigrants settled in Western Cape in the late 1600s and began cultivating grapes. The loaves are often flavored with anise and are typically served with butter and a jam called moskonfyt, also made from must.

Astringent

Astringent describes the dry, raspy mouthfeel of a wine with a considerable amount of unripe tannin. Astringency can also be provoked by certain foods, such as unripe walnuts or unripe persimmons. Excess astringency is unpleasant… Continue reading

Colonial Quaff

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