The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World's Great Drinks (36 page)

MAIDENHAIR FERN

Adiantum capillus-veneris

pteridaceae (fern family)

W
ith its delicate fan-shaped leaves and dramatic black stems, the maidenhair fern has been a prized conservatory plant since Victorian times. A cosmopolitan species native to North and South America, Europe, and parts of Asia and Africa, this fern has been around long enough to find its way into traditional medicines. One such product, capillaire, made the transition from medicinal tonic to cocktail ingredient.

Seventeenth-century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper recommended capillaire syrup to treat coughs, jaundice, and kidney problems. Over time, the fern became less important as an ingredient, and the term
capillaire
came to refer simply to a syrup of sugar, water, egg whites, and orange flower water. Today the syrup is making a comeback in re-creations of vintage cocktails and punches like the classic Jerry Thomas' Regent's Punch.

While maidenhair ferns are widely regarded as nontoxic and are included on the FDA's list of approved food additives, many other species of ferns are poisonous and can cause severe gastrointestinal problems. Some species of ferns, including bracken ferns, also contain carcinogens. In addition, maidenhair ferns are known for their remarkable ability to take up toxins such as arsenic from the soil and therefore should not be gathered in the wild where the soil condition is unknown. For all these reasons, homemade capillaire should be undertaken with care.

MEADOWSWEET

Filipendula ulmaria

rosaceae (rose family)

T
his weedy, swamp-loving perennial forms a dense carpet of leaves topped by two-to-three-foot tall spikes of creamy white flowers. It is native to Europe and parts of Asia, where it has been an ingredient in medicinal tonics since at least medieval times. In fact, the plant contains high levels of salicylic acid, which made it an important ingredient in early aspirin formulations.

As a flavoring agent, meadowsweet gives off a lovely light mixture of wintergreen and almond flavors. Archeological evidence shows that it has been used with other herbs to flavor beer since about 3000 BC; more recently, it has been an ingredient in gins, vermouths, and liqueurs.

NUTMEG AND MACE

Myristica fragrans

myristicaceae (nutmeg family)

T
he Dutch had a devious strategy for seizing control of the world's nutmeg supply. They realized that the Banda Islands in Indonesia were run by local chieftains who had a long history of competing with one another to sell spices to Arab traders. The Dutch offered each chieftain a treaty guaranteeing protection against hostile competing tribes in exchange for a monopoly on their goods—primarily nutmeg. When the treaties proved difficult to enforce, the Dutch massacred most of the islanders and enslaved the rest. Soon the islands were converted to nutmeg plantations entirely under Dutch control.

They held on to their monopoly through the eighteenth century, even going so far as to burn a warehouse filled with nutmeg in 1760 to hold down supply and boost prices. By the early 1800s, French and British traders managed to smuggle saplings off the islands and establish plantations in French Guiana and India, where most nutmeg is produced today.

The tree that was the object of such intense scheming and warfare is a graceful evergreen that reaches over forty feet in height and produces a fruit that looks like an apricot. The pit—the seed inside that fruit—is what we know as nutmeg. Surrounding that seed is a lacy red covering called an aril. In the spice trade, it's known as mace.

Mace has a stronger, more bitter flavor and is lighter in color, but it is more expensive: only one pound of mace can be extracted from a hundred pounds of nutmeg. The aromatic compounds dissipate so quickly that it should be ground fresh.

Nutmeg is a key ingredient in spicy liqueurs; it is especially evident in Benedictine. It is delicious grated fresh into autumn cocktails made with apple brandy or rum.

ORRIS