Absinthe: Dancing with the green fairy
The alcoholic drink with the most scandalous and decadent past must surely be absinthe.
This was the drink of choice among artists and writers in the mid to late 19th century. Its potent qualities inspired poets and artists. Picasso and Van Gogh indulged heavily. It was enjoyed by notorious wit and playwright Oscar Wilde, the eccentric Toulouse Lautrec, poets Charles Baudelaire and Edgar Allen Poe plus 20th Century author Ernest Hemingway, whose masterpiece For Whom The Bell Tolls was said to have been written under the influence of The Green Fairy as the drink is known.
Degas painted The Absinthe Drinkers to depict the hopelessness of the absinthe addict.
By the end of the 19th century, the use of absinthe was widespread and in France it was as popular as wine. In the cafés of Paris, the cocktail hour became known as l'heure verte - the green hour - and being under the influence of this highly alcoholic drink was known as dancing with the green fairy.
As its popularity grew, so did public hysteria over its mysterious effects. Possibly an aphrodisiac, dangerously addictive and inducing hallucinations, absinthe was the subject of many studies into alcoholism and at the time it was referred to as absinthism.
Its use was even considered a ticket to the insane asylum. In August 1905, Jean Lanfray, a Swiss farmer and known absinthe drinker, shot his entire family. The story made headlines around Europe, proclaiming that he was under the influence of absinthe and ignoring the fact that he had consumed several bottles of wine and other spirits during the course of the day.
Absinthe was eventually banned in many countries and although now legal once more in the UK is still prohibited in the United States.
The ingredients of absinthe were known many years ago and used for medicinal purposes.
The Father of Medicine, Hippocrates, recommended absinthe for jaundice and rheumatism and Pythagoras recommended wormwood soaked in wine to help women through the pain of childbirth.
However, ancient absinthe was different from the liquor Picasso and Wilde imbibed, generally being wormwood leaves soaked in wine or spirits.
Most likely the word absinthe derives from the Greek word apsinthion, which means undrinkable, presumably because of its bitter taste.
Modern absinthe was invented in 1792 by an extraordinary French doctor called Pierre Ordinaire, who fled FranceÕs revolution to settle in Couvet, a small village in western Switzerland. Ordinaire is said to have discovered the plant artemisia absinthium growing wild in the hills of the Val-de-Travers region. Like most country doctors, he prepared his own remedies and, being acquainted with absinthe's use in ancient times, he began experimenting with it. After many claims of miraculous healing powers, it became a panacea or cure-all. It was eventually nicknamed la fée verte - the green fairy.
Absinthe was first produced commercially in 1797 by Henry-Louis Pernod, who purchased the formula.
Artemisia absinthium, otherwise known as wormwood, the chief flavouring ingredient, is native to Europe and Asia. Other aromatic ingredients include aniseed, liquorice, hyssop, fennel, angelica root and star aniseed. This is a long-lived plant, with greyish-green leaves. The flowers have a greenish-yellow tint and, like the leaves, give off a strong aromatic odour and are bitter to the taste. A toxic chemical present in wormwood has a similar effect to the active chemical in cannabis
Absinthe is emerald green in colour, turning to cloudy opalescent white when mixed with water
Traditionally, the drink is prepared by slowly pouring iced water over a cube of sugar resting on a slotted spoon. The cold water dissolves the sugar and this solution trickles into the glass diluting the green absinthe.
It is also the base of many cocktails, though this is a drink that should be enjoyed with caution.
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