A guide to the cultural history of liqueurs from a celebrated spirits journalist.
The original recreational spirit, liqueurs traveled the Silk Road, awaited travelers at the Fountain of Youth, and traversed the globe from ancient times through the industrial revolution and beyond. In this thrilling exploration of liqueur’s global history, Lesley Jacobs Solmonson describes how a bitter, medicinal elixir distilled by early alchemists developed into a sugar- and spice-fueled luxury for the rich before garnishing a variety of cocktails the world over. The book invites readers on a multi-faceted journey through culinary history, driven by humanity’s ages-long desire for pleasure.
The original recreational spirit, liqueurs traveled the Silk Road, awaited travelers at the Fountain of Youth, and traversed the globe from ancient times through the industrial revolution and beyond. In this thrilling exploration of liqueur’s global history, Lesley Jacobs Solmonson describes how a bitter, medicinal elixir distilled by early alchemists developed into a sugar- and spice-fueled luxury for the rich before garnishing a variety of cocktails the world over. The book invites readers on a multi-faceted journey through culinary history, driven by humanity’s ages-long desire for pleasure.
Reviews
Table of Contents
Introduction
1 Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
2 Information, Individuality and Independence
3 The Road to Enlightenment and Revolution
4 Invention, Industry and Commercialization: Drinking in Post-Revolutionary France
5 Bitter Pleasures
6 From the Flowing Bowl to the Cock-tail
7 Twentieth-Century Blues
8 The New Golden Age
Recipes
Appendix: Catalogue of World Liqueurs
Select Bibliography
Websites and Associations
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
1 Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
2 Information, Individuality and Independence
3 The Road to Enlightenment and Revolution
4 Invention, Industry and Commercialization: Drinking in Post-Revolutionary France
5 Bitter Pleasures
6 From the Flowing Bowl to the Cock-tail
7 Twentieth-Century Blues
8 The New Golden Age
Recipes
Appendix: Catalogue of World Liqueurs
Select Bibliography
Websites and Associations
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index