Cochineal? Why, that's what granny used to colour food ! Many years ago you'd see tiny jars of mysterious colourings and flavourings on every cook's shelf : vanilla essence,coconut essence, almond essence, cochineal and so on. All were of natural origin but you'd be hard-pressed to find genuine cochineal nowadays . The local stores here sell red colouring but it ain't the same and the nearest it's been to a beetle is if there was one on the factory floor But if you are squeamish you ought not to investigate traditional methods too closely. Fish gut is used to clarify beer and as to what can legally go in to French wine... (Let's just say that ox blood is one and leave it at that )
Originally posted by DorianGreyed: Had any Hungarian Bikaver lately, Fred?
Not lately: I haven't had alcohol in nearly six years...but back then Bikaver is what is sold in Britain as Bull's Blood.It may have been my jaded taste buds at fault, worn out by all those Bloody Marys, but it seemed less heavy and strong in latter years.Like most people, I suspect, I thought that the name and the history on the label were simply marketing devices but , in fact, the wine did contain bull's blood as an additive.
Iron filings make another additive to wines. Scots children are familar with a soft drink called Irn-bru (slogan 'made with real girders' )This too is not as absurdly named as might appear. It does contain added iron but the iron it contains is not from ground girders but, whilst essentially similar, is like the iron in some medicines. Older Britons may remember a medicine called 'Parrish's Food'.This was an iron supplement of childhood and ranked with cod-liver oil in unpleasantness.It came as a syrup and the child had to drink it while being careful not to let the mixture touch the front teeth.If it did it allegedly left an iron stain on them
When I was a kid, one of the older taverns in my neighborhood kept Bikaver in stock. (I should mention that the original name of my neighborhood was Hunky Hollow. Most of the residents were from Hungary or Eastern Europe. To the Germans, English, and Irish across the tracks, we were all "Hunkies.") An old Armenian told me that drinking it would make me "strong like bull."
This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,
Posts: 17470 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
When I was a kid we always had a bottle of Cohineal in the house. We used it to color the boiled granulated sugar for dipping impaled apples in. That was how the original candied apples used to be made, one of the rare treats during the depression.
But if you are squeamish you ought not to investigate traditional methods too closely. Fish gut is used to clarify beer and as to what can legally go in to French wine... 
(Let's just say that ox blood is one and leave it at that )
