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Allspice, Essence Of
Pour two drachms of oil of pimento very gradually into three ounces of spirits of wine, and let it stand for a few minutes. Put it into a bottle and cork it closely. Probable cost, 1s. 8d. Five or six drops will flavour a pint.
This is a bottled flavouring essence rather than a dish: allspice oil dissolved in strong alcohol, in the manner of a commercial extract. The whole thing hinges on what "spirits of wine" means and on getting the oil properly into solution.
- Spirits of wineThis means rectified, food-grade ethanol of around 90-95 per cent — the modern equivalent is a neutral grain spirit such as Everclear. It is emphatically not methylated spirit, surgical spirit or isopropyl alcohol, all of which are denatured or toxic and must never be used in anything eaten.
- Drachms and ouncesRead as fluid drachms, two drachms is a quarter of a fluid ounce, about 7 ml or roughly a teaspoon and a half; the drachm was also an apothecaries' weight, so the reading is not wholly certain. Three ounces of spirit is about 85 ml, giving a ratio of roughly one part oil to twelve parts alcohol.
- Oil of pimentoPimento is allspice, and the oil is the steam-distilled essential oil of the berry, sold today as allspice essential oil and heavy in eugenol. Buy one labelled food grade; aromatherapy grades are not intended for ingestion.
- Why "very gradually"Adding the oil in a thin stream, with stirring, helps each portion go into solution rather than sitting as a slick on the surface.
- Bottle and storageUse dark glass with a tight cap and keep it away from light and heat. Essential oil components oxidise and the aroma turns harsh and turpentine-like within a year or so.
- StrengthFive or six drops to a pint is the intended dose and it is not a timid one. Add it at the end of cooking, and taste before adding more.
- Yield and costYou get about 3 fl oz of essence, enough to flavour a great many pints. The 1s 8d is the book's own "probable cost" figure.
Pimento is the older English name for allspice, the dried unripe berry of Pimenta dioica, a Caribbean tree whose fruit early Spanish voyagers are traditionally said to have taken for a kind of pepper — hence pimienta, and hence the long-standing muddle with the sweet red pimiento pepper, which is unrelated. Jamaica was the chief source in the nineteenth century, and the berry's suggestion of clove, cinnamon and nutmeg gave it the English name allspice. Essences of this kind belong to a period when flavouring oils could be bought at the chemist and made up at home, or bought ready-mixed.