On Food and Cooking

enzymes, and generate trace byproducts that contribute flavor. Once the grain cakes have been well ...

“pasteurizing” their alcohols centuries before Louis Pasteur suggested gently heating wine and milk ...

Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and others) that contribute tart and savory tastes and some aroma. A pure yeast cultur ...

grain and only the liquid is fermented, the thick gruel of cooked rice is fermented whole. And the ...

the mash is often divided into smaller containers and held at cooler temperatures for weeks or months. ...

starch and the least protein or oil, so the more the outer layers of the rice are ground away, the simpler and p ...

filtered, diluted with water to 15–16% alcohol, and held for some weeks to allow the flavor to mellow. I ...

the mash just before pressing. This became standard industrial practice during the war years becaus ...

Some Kinds of Sake Sake made to be savored is usually of the grade ginjo, or “special,” in which pure a ...

and Nigorizake yeast cells, and other fine particles from the mash Shizuku “Droplets” sake, made by allowing th ...

Distilled spirits are the concentrated essence of wine and beer. They’re the product of a basic c ...

The History of Distilled Spirits The Discovery of Distillation High concentrations of alcohol are toxic t ...

water, when it is converted into vapor, becomes drinkable, nor does it form sea water when it condenses ...

The full-bodied liquid is drawn off and clarified, and ends up at around 14% alcohol and from 10% to ...

life,” a term that lives on in Scandinavia (aquavit), in France (eau de vie), and in English: whisky i ...

with its concealed virtues and force into the human body to do its healing duty. It’s this connection betw ...

Europe. Gin, a whisky-like medicinal concoction from rye, with juniper added for its flavor and ...

particularly among the urban populations of the Industrial Revolution. In England the principal scourge was cheap g ...

Service! In the early days of the colonies and then the United States, molasses was more plenti ...

movement that culminated in Prohibition. Recent Times: The Rise of the Cocktail It was in the 19th ce ...