On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1427

water, when it is converted into vapor, becomes drinkable, nor does it form sea water when it condenses again.” Concentrated alcohol may have been discovered for the first time in ancient China Archaeological finds and written documents suggest that Chinese alchemists were distilling small amounts of concentrated alcohol from grain preparations around 2,000 years ago A privileged few were drinking it before the 10th century, and by the 13th it was a commercial product Japanese Cooking Alcohols: Mirin and Sake Lees Mirin is a sweet Japanese cooking alcohol It’s made by combining cooked polished rice, koji, and shochu, a distilled spirit made from a low-grade sake The alcohol inhibits any further alcoholic fermentation Instead, during two months at a warm 77– 86ºF/25–30ºC, the koji mold and enzymes slowly convert the rice starch into glucose The full-bodied liquid is drawn off and clarified, and ends up at around 14% alcohol and from 10% to as much as 45% sugar Industrial imitations are made from grain alcohol, sugar, and flavorings The solids left after pressing and filtering the sake mash are called sake kasu, or sake lees They include starch, proteins, the cell walls of rice, yeasts, and molds, and some acids, alcohol, and enzymes These sake lees are much used in Japanese cooking, especially in the making of vegetable pickles, marinades for fish, and soups Spirits and Waters of Life In Europe, significant quantities of distilled alcohol were produced around 1100 at the medical school in Salerno, Italy, where it developed its reputation as a uniquely valuable medicine Two hundred years later, the Catalan scholar Arnaud of Villanova dubbed the active principle of wine aqua vitae, the “water of ... grain alcohol, sugar, and flavorings The solids left after pressing and filtering the sake mash are called sake kasu, or sake lees They include starch, proteins, the cell walls of rice, yeasts, and molds, and some acids,.. .The full-bodied liquid is drawn off and clarified, and ends up at around 14% alcohol and from 10% to as much as 45% sugar Industrial imitations are made from grain alcohol, sugar, and flavorings... acids, alcohol, and enzymes These sake lees are much used in Japanese cooking, especially in the making of vegetable pickles, marinades for fish, and soups Spirits and Waters of Life In Europe,