Don't Drink the Water: Orgeat - Random Bits of Fascination
 
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Don’t Drink the Water: Orgeat — 11 Comments

  1. I definitely think I’ll pass! Even though I do love almonds, macaroons and marzipan I don’t think I would enjoy this.
    Apart from that I’m no longer into experimental cookery. I stick to tried, tested and easy nowadays. Plus I’m sure I’m allergic to cyanide 🙂

  2. I know it was barley water based, indeed I thought it was just barley water……now i discover it’s a murderers dream. It sounds revolting. Thank you for your work with the rabbits, I am wiser now. Now…Ratafia?

  3. Orgeat is readily available from the better liquor and wine retailers; it is listed as an ingredient in some cocktails. I saw a comment requesting ratafia. My question/request is: what then is the barley water mentioned for medicinal use by various authors of regency era books and P&P variations.

    Thanks for exploring the rabbit holes.

  4. And never smell of Barley water… (Michael’s addition to the Banks advert for a new nanny).
    Glad I’ll know how to pronounce it should it appear in one of your dragon books. 🙂

  5. I think I will pass. Would this be created in the kitchens or in the stillroom? I’ll leave this to the work of the chemist. Otherwise, I’d kill myself or my family. Would this cause miscarriage in women that drank it? [Oh, horrors, another rabbit hole] I mean… seriously… they were constantly doing things that were detrimental to their health. It is a wonder anyone lived to old age. I love these posts… horrifying as they are. They are very informative. Thanks for sharing.

  6. Again – glad to live in modern times, knowing what I am eating or drinking by contents on the labels. Thanks for sharing.

  7. So I of course, went to Amazon, where you can buy almond based Orgeat syrup for about $20 a bottle. It is sold to use in cocktails.

  8. Fascinating article! I have a bag of bitter almonds (apricot kernels) that I bought, and intend to make orgeat out of them. They are often consumed in measured amounts for therapeutic reasons. I am going to explore the effects of heating on cyanide. I think one would have to consume a lot of orgeat to get to toxic levels, but cyanide is definitely something to know an understand!

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