tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16712604.post3059524750262950223..comments2023-10-23T13:33:54.024-07:00Comments on Mental Masala: Making infused syrupsMarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14108059997977496770noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16712604.post-15823911525912176952010-04-15T21:11:31.667-07:002010-04-15T21:11:31.667-07:00Thanks for the Thai syrup recipe. Just this past w...Thanks for the Thai syrup recipe. Just this past weekend I bought myself a makrut tree during Songkran, so the timing is good--it still has that new-tree smell! I see some cocktails in our future made with this syrup...<br /><br />Cheers! CarolHungry Passporthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12198279448241185376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16712604.post-18967069255887108632010-04-13T20:24:44.548-07:002010-04-13T20:24:44.548-07:00Perhaps no one knows the name now, but that can ch...Perhaps no one knows the name <i>now</i>, but that can change, and I'm trying to be part of that change. But then again, in a Thai grocery they might not know what you're talking about if you don't say makrut. Or a Indonesian grocer might only know "daun jeruk purut". Or "daun limau purut" in a Malaysian grocery. Actually, I expect that you could probably get away with calling them "lime leaves," as they are the only citrus leaves sold as far as I know. Walk into a specialty grocery and ask for "lime leaves" and you'll most likely get <i>Citrus hystrix</i>.<br /><br />Here's what the <i>Oxford Companion to Food</i> has to say on the subject: "...the term 'kaffir lime' seems to have only a very short history in the English language and may be all the easier to eradicate for that reason. Since the fruit in question is of some importance in a number of SE Asian cuisines, it is in books about them that one is most apt to find references to it [<i>Ed. note</i>: every cookbook in my library uses the term kaffir (and were published by British or American publishing houses, which would lean in the direction of that word)] Such evidence as had been amassed in the 1990s, when the usage came under scrutiny, suggests that the first occurrence in print may have been in the early 1970s in Thailand. But it would be a reasonable assumption that the term had its origin in southern Africa and may have reached Malaysia and Indonesia from there through the Cape Malays, and then travelled westwards to Thailand. In the language of each of these countries the fruit had its own name, and there had been little reason until recently for it to have an English name." The <i>Oxford Companion</i> recommends using makrut lime.Marchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14108059997977496770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16712604.post-79556961436162560822010-04-10T13:55:07.043-07:002010-04-10T13:55:07.043-07:00I applaud your sensitivity in calling the leaves &...I applaud your sensitivity in calling the leaves "makrut leaves" and the intention involved in avoiding negative racial terms. But the fact is that perjorative or not, these leaves are marketed in the US as "kaffir lime leaves" and if you ask for "makrut leaves" no one will know what you are talking about.<br /><br />For better or worse, that is what they are called here.Dianenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16712604.post-59010276675194984842010-03-21T12:45:41.696-07:002010-03-21T12:45:41.696-07:00Eurasian Sensation -- the soda gembira sounds inte...Eurasian Sensation -- the soda gembira sounds interesting and worth a try someday. <br /><br />Sara -- Citrus hystrix is also known as kaffir line.Marchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14108059997977496770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16712604.post-83555074455749593472010-03-18T14:32:58.366-07:002010-03-18T14:32:58.366-07:00Is Citrus hystrix also known as kaffir lime? I kn...Is Citrus hystrix also known as kaffir lime? I know the essential oil smells a lot like the rinds of kaffir.sarahttp://lobeliarama.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16712604.post-40997059722914360592010-03-16T05:11:44.425-07:002010-03-16T05:11:44.425-07:00Cardamom and orange blossom water would make a goo...Cardamom and orange blossom water would make a good flavour combo.<br /><br />For a slightly different take on the syrup-and-soda combo, you should try the Indonesian "soda gembira" ("hapy soda"). It seems kinda wrong but is quite awesome. You combine soda water with rose-flavoured syrup (red commercial stuff) and sweetened condensed milk. It's fabulous.Eurasian Sensationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03486297795353354329noreply@blogger.com