Amb una mica d’Oscar
Wilde i 4 pel·lícules, em vaig quedar amb les ganes de saber lo que era l’absenta
però sabia que estava prohibit en molts països ja que es deia que era una beguda
molt perillosa. Aquest perill és, però, una mica de llegenda segons una mirada
a Wikipedia i per això es va tornar a fabricar i comercialitzar fa uns anys. I
concretament a Tortosa és un dels llocs on es fabrica – per tant, l’any passat
en vam comprar.
Bé, provat ja –
diversos cops – he de dir que (a) m’agrada, i (b) no m’he convertit ni en artista
ni en un borratxo. Té bon gust, em recorda una mica a begudes com les herbes de
Montserrat, bàsicament perquè està fet d’herbes – el principal sent el donzell
(o artemisia absinthium!).
Hi ha (almenys) dos
maneres de preparar-ho. Pel que diu Wikipedia, la més espectacular – amb foc –es
una “nova” manera de fer-ho, però els famosos artistes de Paris ho feien amb la
segona versió, amb aigua gelada.
1.Amb foc, poses
dos tarrons de sucre damunt la cullera especial dalt del got. Li fas passar l’absenta,
i prens foc al sucre. Es desfà i cau a la beguda. Ho remenes i ho dilueixes amb
aigua freda.
2.Metode més
tradicional – poses un dit (o dos) de la beguda al got i els dos tarrons de
sucre a la cullera. Tires aigua gelada poc a poc damunt el sucre, el qual es
desfà i cau a la beguda. Remeneu i a beure! Sembla ser que una proporció bona,
pels dos metodes, és una part absenta a 4 o 5 parts d’aigua.
En fi, ho explica
tot molt millor a la Wikipedia. I aquí tens l’info sobre la beguda tortosina.
....
So, thanks
to Oscar Wilde and a couple of films, I always wondered what absinthe (the weird
green drink all these artistic-type folk used to down by the bucketful) was – I
say “was” as I was sure it had been banned thanks to all the crazy behaviour it
led to. So, imagine my surprise when I saw it is made and sold in Tortosa! A
bit of internet research soon showed up that it hadn’t been banned everywhere,
and it’s fame was a little bit exaggerated and, in fact, it was/is now coming
back into fashion. So I bought a bottle of the stuff.
I have to
say I like it – it has a delicious “herbal” flavour (basically it is made from
herbs such as wormwood) to it and goes down well on a night after a hard day’s
work. It has not converted me (yet) into either (a) an artist or (b) a drunk.
Despite the word cannabis blazened across my bottle, it no longer (if it ever
did) includes any cannabis.
According
to Wikipedia there are (at least) two ways to prepare it.
1.
1) With
fire. Balance the special spoon you get when you buy the drink over a glass.
Place two sugar cubes on it. Gently pour the absinthe over the sugar. Then set
light to the sugar and it will gradually melt into the drink. Stir and add cold
water.
2. 2)
The
cold water method. Set up your spoon and sugar cubes again, having already put
the drink in the glass. Pour cold water slowly over the sugar and into the
drink. The sugar dissolves. Stir it in and Bob’s your uncle.
In both
versions, it seems that a suitable proportion is one part absinthe to 4 or 5
parts water. Apparently, the “burning sugar” method is a modern idea, and the
Bohemians and other drunkards who used to live it up in Paris used the second
method. Me too, I tried the first, but prefer the second. Anyway, you read and
I’ll drink. Oh, and here’s the local manufacturers’ web page.
