On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1450

thesescatterlightlikethefatglobulesin
milk.
Vinegar

Vinegarisalcohol’sfate,thenaturalsequelto
analcoholicfermentation.Alcoholmakesa
liquidmoreresistanttospoilagebecausemost
microbescan’ttolerateit.Butthereareafew
importantandubiquitousexceptions:bacteria
thatcanuseoxygentometabolizealcoholand
extractenergyfromit.Intheprocessthey
convertittoaceticacid,whichisafarmore
potentantimicrobialagentthanalcohol,and
cametobeoneofthemosteffective
preservativesofancientandmoderntimes.
Alcoholicwinethusbecomespungentlyacidic
wine:inFrench,vinaigre.
Absinthe
The most notorious herbal alcohol is
absinthe, a green-tinged, anise-flavored


liqueur whose main ingredient is parts of
the
wormwood
plant,Artemisia
absinthium.Wormwoodhasaharsh,bitter
flavor and carries an aromatic compound,
thujone,thatinhighdosesistoxicnotonly
tointestinalparasitesandinsects—hence
theplant’sname—butalsotothehuman

nervous system, muscles, and kidneys.
Absinthe was hugely popular in late 19thcentury France, andl’heure verte, “the
green hour” of the afternoon when people
drippedwaterthroughasugarcubeintothe
absinthe and caused it to cloud up, was
depicted by a number of Impressionist
painters and by the young Picasso.
Absinthe developed a reputation for
inducingconvulsionsandinsanity,andwas
therefore outlawed in many countries
around 1910, and replaced by simpler
anise-flavored spirits. Whatever toxicity
wormwood had for the heavy drinker was
probably exacerbated by absinthe’s high