WEBVTT - From the Vault: Eggnog 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:09.520 Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. It is 0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:12.879 Christmas Eve for many of you, and so we're off 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:16.360 this week. Instead of a new episode, we have an 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:19.480 older episode, this one originally published twelve fifteen, twenty twenty two. 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:25.479 It is our invention style episode on eggnog. Get into 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:27.680 the history of agnog and a little bit into the 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:31.840 science of eggnog as well. So let's pour up a 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:33.560 glass and sip it down. 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:43.960 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:49.400 Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:52.880 is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. It's that time 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:56.000 of year again, and by that time, I mean it 0:00:56.080 --> 0:01:00.440 is the holidays. We're knee deep, perhaps waste deep in 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.080 the holidays, and there's no going back. We might as 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:05.399 well just push forward at this point, like it's just 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.600 as much just as much effort to keep going as 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:11.960 it would be to turn back. So once more, we 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:14.000 have a holiday episode for you. It's actually going to 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:18.880 be our third installment in our Holiday Invention series, where 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:22.000 we more or less give the Invention treatment to various 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:27.360 holiday decorations, traditions, and toys. This year, we're going to 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:30.240 be looking in earnest at eggnog. 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:33.640 Is eggnog an invention? Sure, we can stretch the definition. 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:34.520 I think that's okay. 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:36.840 I think so. I mean, we did an invention, a 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:40.679 full blown invention episode about the Matai, which we you know, 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:43.280 we had Jeff Beach bombarry on as a guest to 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:47.240 talk about that. Eggnog is not something that occurs naturally 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:50.840 in the world. It must be made at some point. 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:54.120 There had to be a first or something like a first, 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:56.720 and you know, we'll get into that. And it's one 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:58.760 of those things that has a number of different customs 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:02.560 and cold details surrounding it. Now, Joe, I'm not sure 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:05.200 what your relationship with eggnog happens to be, because I 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:07.680 don't know that we've ever really spoken about this. I 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:11.920 don't think we've had eggnog together before, not that I recall, 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:16.519 but my family's general approach is originally buy a carton 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:19.880 of almond nog each year, largely for our son because 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:21.799 he gets super into it. And if I have a 0:02:21.880 --> 0:02:25.919 chance to visit a like an upscale cocktail place or 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:28.679 a nice restaurant, then I will jump at the opportunity 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:31.040 to order an eggnog. If they have one on the menu. 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:35.240 In the past, I've made it down to New Orleans 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:39.680 for the start of beach Bumberry Sippings Santa Festivities at 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:42.160 beach Bumberry's Latitude twenty nine. They also have pop ups 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:45.720 all over the place, and they'll generally have at least 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.799 one holiday teaki beverage on there that is at least 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:50.079 eggnog esque. 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:55.280 In form I'm picturing piles of crushed or pellet ice 0:02:55.440 --> 0:03:01.280 with kind of a frothy, creamy rye about them, and 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:03.040 some nutmeg sprinkled over top. 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:06.880 Oh yeah, the nutmeg, as we'll discuss, is pretty essential. 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:08.800 So I did make it down there this year, but 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:11.359 I did make it over to a tiki bar in 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:15.280 our area, Decatur's Sos t Bar, and I enjoyed a 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:19.200 frozen take on a classic eggnog. Generally a rich drink, 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:23.120 though so once twice three times per year max. That's 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:26.120 generally enough from me. Uh huh. Now. Before we came 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:28.000 in here, though, I mentioned to my wife that I 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:30.560 was about to record the eggnog episode, and she was 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.600 kind enough to provide me with an entire glass of 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:38.240 eggnog here for me to consume during this episode. The 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:40.440 listeners at home. You'll have to take my word for it, Joe. 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:43.360 I think you can see it on the video feed here. 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:46.560 Wait, is this full booze eggnog? 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:49.520 Or well you might well presume that, but I couldn't 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:56.680 possibly comment. Yes, creamy, rich, hint of. 0:03:56.880 --> 0:04:01.320 Nutmeg, beautiful, I have no eggnog in the house. A cute, 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:05.920 cute Joe Peshi and Home Alone saying eggnog, eggnog dressed 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:09.040 as a cop like eggnog is the most disgusting substance 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:12.400 on Earth. And you know what, as a child, that 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:14.840 was pretty much where my head was at. I was like, yeah, 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:18.080 Joe Peshi in Home Alone is correct. I found the 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:21.760 idea revolting, not just revolting, I think, I I think 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:25.720 I probably found it borderline nauseating to think of a 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:29.640 drink made out of eggs. Something changed over the years. 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:31.200 Now I find it quite delightful. 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:33.680 So was the eggs that threw you off? 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.160 Yeah, well you're gonna drink eggs. I don't know. So 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:38.680 I think about eggs. There's something that, you know, I 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:41.880 liked eggs scrambled like they make them at the cracker barrel. 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:47.599 You know, I'm thinking of like a thick, yellow curd 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:51.920 like substance, and always in savory context. I mean, I know, 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:54.080 obviously now that eggs are used in all kinds of 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:57.360 baking and sweet contexts, but that's not how I thought 0:04:57.400 --> 0:04:59.320 about them when I was a kid. So the idea 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:04.159 of drink thinking a sweet egg based beverage was absolutely 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:06.960 vile to my brain. 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:09.559 I can understand that. I mean, especially even the name 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:13.000 is a bit potentially off putting. It's very forward with 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:15.560 the egg. What you were about to drink contains eggs, 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:19.239 and then the nog also can throw one for a curve. 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:22.200 I do like some of the archaic spellings of eggnog 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.800 that I've encountered researching this episode. Oftentimes the way we 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:29.200 encounter it now it's egg n og, but some of 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:32.960 these other spellings will be egg n ogg. I like 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:36.640 the double g's occurring in both parts of the world. 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:38.920 That's just symmetry. That's good branding. 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:42.839 Yes, now, before we proceed, I guess we should go 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:46.800 ahead and drive home exactly what eggnog is. We've alluded 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:49.640 to it a little bit already, but technically it's a 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:53.440 milk egg drink or a milk egg punch and we've 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:57.360 of course reached the points as a civilization where you 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.880 can have something that is identified as a nog without 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:04.880 the presence of egg or dairy. But historically this is 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:07.160 the realm from which this beverage arises. 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:11.039 Right, So you're you mentioned almond nog. I guess that 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:13.320 is equivalent in the same way that you might have 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:15.880 almond milk. It is a substitute for milk. 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:18.680 Yeah, though I guess it's even more like some people 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:21.000 get up in arms, especially the dairy industry. I know 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:24.320 about things that are not milk calling themselves milk. And 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:27.080 even more to the point, I guess something like a 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.520 soy nog or an almond nog is going to have 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:32.800 neither eggs nor dairy, and so it is even further removed. 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:35.640 But yet it's still very much in the spirit of 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.760 of of the classic nog. So I think it more 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:39.479 than qualifies. 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:43.599 Yeah, nog is a thick, creamy, sweet drink. 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:49.080 Yes, it's a state of mind. It's it's it's a 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:51.320 holiday tradition. Now, one of the sources I'm going to 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:53.720 refer back to several times in this episode is the 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:58.839 excellent book Imbibe exclamation Point by David Wandriche, which is 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:01.600 a text that we've referenced in the show in the past. 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:04.760 It is one of, if not the best books you 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:07.440 can pick up on the history of the American cocktail. 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:09.920 This is a great book. It cites, among many others, 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:13.240 the legendary professor Jerry Thomas, who lived eighteen thirty through 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:16.560 eighteen eighty five, the New Orleans bartender who wrote the 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:21.800 Seminole Bartender's Guide and helped popularize cocktail drinking in general. 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:24.320 I think we're go into more depth on this in 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:28.240 an older episode or episodes that we did together on Mixology. 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:30.880 I think we ended up talking about absinthe a lot 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:31.320 in those. 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:37.120 Yeah, that would make sense. And I know Jerry Thomas 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:40.480 also comes up in the recent episode on ice the 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:44.320 interview that I did. But according to Wondrich, basic milk 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:47.840 punches go back to the late sixteen hundreds and to 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.360 give you an example of what a milk punch consists of, 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:52.160 and again this is not an egg milk punch. This 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:55.520 is just a milk punch. Wondrich includes a recipe from 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:59.560 Jerry Thomas. Jerry Thomas would have you know, brought up 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:02.560 together bunch of these different recipes for drinks and put 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:05.680 them in his own book at the time. This particular 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:09.600 recipe from Jerry Thomas calls for sugar water, brandy, rum, 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:13.400 and shaved ice, A little nutmeg goes on top, and 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:17.320 Wandritch includes a quote from This is an eighteen seventy 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:20.800 three quote from the Brooklyn Eagle that states that this 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:23.360 punch was quote the surest thing in the world to 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:26.880 get drunk on, and so fearfully drunk that you won't 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:29.680 know whether you are a cow yourself or some other 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:30.520 foolish thing. 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:36.520 Hmmm, that's that's good. 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:36.680 No. 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:38.800 One thing I have to point out is that when 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.400 you listed the ingredients, you did not list milk. So 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:43.760 I assume these are the things that are added to 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:44.240 the milk. 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:47.360 Yes, yes, okay, yeah. The milk would would also be 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:51.800 be an important part of this. So already we're kind 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:54.679 of in the territory of what we think of when 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:56.680 we think about eggnog, but of course there are no 0:08:56.760 --> 0:09:02.160 eggs there now. When it comes to eggnog itself. Thomas 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:04.480 was very much of the opinion that eggnog was quote 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:08.880 a beverage of American origin, and Wondrich states that quote 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:11.440 the drink's earliest mentions come from a seventeen eighty eight 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:15.760 Philadelphia newspaper, and all the other mentions are American, and 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:18.480 if early European travelers to the United States viewed it 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.120 as one of the novelties Americans were inflicting on the 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:23.839 art of drinking. By the eighteen sixties, it was a 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:27.319 drink of comfortable middle age with a wide, if strictly 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:31.400 seasonal popularity. When Thomas added that in the North quote 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:33.960 it is a favorite of all seasons, he was certainly 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:35.120 overstating the case. 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:38.360 So you bring up that mention in the seventeen eighty 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:44.120 eight newspaper, and this name drop of eggnog as a 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:47.640 recipe is also referenced in a great source I found 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:51.240 that was aimed at unearthing the etymological history of egnog, 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:54.320 because it's obvious why the word egg is in the name. 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:58.400 There are eggs in it, But what exactly is anog? Could, 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:01.400 as the Simpsons propose, do you equally whip up a 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:03.000 cauldron of corn nog? 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:06.640 Cornog sounds kind of delicious, like it brings to mind 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:07.800 like corn puddings. 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.280 I think it occurs in the Simpsons episode with the Hurricane, 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.160 when the stores are there's a run on the quickie 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.160 mart and the only things left on the shelves are 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:22.760 corn nog and wadded beef. But anyway, diving into the 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:27.120 history and etymology of eggnog or corn nog whatever, what 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.800 have you? Any nogs? My source here is a December 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:34.360 two thousand and nine article called the Origins of Eggnog 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:39.680 Holiday Grog by the American linguist and language columnist Ben Zimmer, 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:42.800 who is brother of the excellent science writer Karl Zimmer, 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:43.600 who's been a guest on. 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:45.480 The show before Huh Crazy. 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:48.680 So here's what Ben Zimmer says about nog. The word 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:53.480 noog first shows up as a regional term in England, 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:56.680 specifically in the region of East Anglia, so it's the 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:02.080 eastern part of the country containing Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.520 and it referred that term. They are referred to a 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.600 type of beer. We know this because of a letter 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:12.920 written from the County of Norfolk in the year sixteen 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:17.480 ninety three by a man named Humphrey Prideaux, who described 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:20.960 quote a bottle of old strong beer, which in this 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:25.400 country they call nog. So nog is high gravity beer. 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:29.240 It's strong stuff, but to take one step back, why 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:34.640 would the East Anglians call strong beer nog? Zimmer identifies 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:38.120 a couple of hypotheses here. One is that it comes 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:41.760 from the word noggin, which we today think of as 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:46.480 antiquated slang for head for your head. But before that 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:51.000 nogin meant a small mug or a small drink of spirits. 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:55.880 So perhaps noggin was shorter, was shortened to nog, and 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:58.440 it came to refer to the beer inside the mug 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:01.000 instead of the mug itself. And we do that kind 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:05.360 of metonymy with words today like did you have wine? Oh, 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.120 I drank two glasses. You're not saying you literally drank 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:11.760 the glass. The glasses mean the wine inside the glass, right. 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:16.080 But another idea is that the word nog for strong 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:20.760 beer comes from a Scottish word nug or nuged ale, 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:23.880 which means ale that you heat up by sticking a 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:27.760 hot poker in it, which is funny enough to imagine 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:29.720 in itself, but I can also see how that would 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:34.520 correspond to a drink with strong alcohol alcohol content, because 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:37.280 drinks with higher alcohol content are often said to taste 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:38.960 warm or even to burn. 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:42.920 Hmmm, yeah, this is this is interesting. It brings to mind, 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:45.040 you know, the images of some of these older drinks 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:48.440 where you'd you would you would stick the hot poker 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:50.800 or some sort of hot metal into it. I think 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:54.280 there's a scene in the excellent TV series The Nick 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:57.559 where you see some of the characters getting a drink 0:12:57.559 --> 0:12:58.280 of this fashion. 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:03.000 M Okay, So so far, we've got the idea that 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:05.400 you start with either a little mug called a noggin 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:07.800 or a type of beer warmed with a hot poker 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:10.480 called a nug And somehow one of these terms gets 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:13.920 poured it over into this East Anglian word nog, which 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:17.560 means strong beer. But how does that actually get connected 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:20.959 to the sweet, milky, eggy drink we are familiar with. 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:23.960 We don't know for sure, but the link in the 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:27.680 chain seems to be alcohol. Because while you can buy 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:31.080 kid friendly nog in the dairy issle these days, everything 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:34.640 I've been reading suggests that early eggnog was boozy. That 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:37.920 was a primary characteristic of what the noog was. It 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:39.440 had a lot of alcohol in it. 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:43.400 Yeah, absolutely, that's exactly what I saw in all of 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:47.240 my research. Nobody's talking about eggnog is something that is 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:49.959 then spiked it is inherently spiked. 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:55.560 And Zimmer reports that a Maryland clergyman named Jonathan Bouchet 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:59.520 is alleged to have written the first known reference to 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:04.080 eggnog a poem in seventeen seventy five, but this poem 0:14:04.120 --> 0:14:06.760 was not published until about thirty years later, so we 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:09.920 don't know when it was actually written for sure. But 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:13.400 the relevant section of the poem goes like this, fog 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:17.200 DRAMs in the morn or better still eggnog. This is 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:20.680 nog with two g's at night hot suppings and at 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:25.480 midday grog my palate can regale. So you see the 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:30.000 context here is fully alcoholic grog refers to a spirit 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:33.960 or alcoholic beverage. Then there's that line, fog DRAMs in 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:38.760 the morn or better still eggnog. A dram usually refers 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:42.320 to a small drink of whiskey, and according to Miriam Webster, 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:47.120 fog DRAMs are quote DRAMs resorted to on the pretense 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:54.600 of their protecting from the danger of fog. I'm sorry, boss, 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:57.000 I had to have another whiskey before work, or the 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:58.840 fog could have killed me on the way here. 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:02.640 All right, Yeah, this is making sense. Is an early 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:06.280 morning drink though, because you get your fog protection, you 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:08.480 get a couple of eggs in there. Maybe you know 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:12.600 this is a breakfast that you're drinking down exactly. 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:17.880 So Bouchet may have written that in seventy seventy five. 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:20.160 It's hard to say for sure, but according to Zimmer, 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:24.320 the earliest at rock solid references to eggnog where we 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.080 know the date of their publication, appear in a handful 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:29.640 of newspapers in the year seventeen eighty eight, as you 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:33.720 mentioned earlier. Now one is a March seventeen eighty eight 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:37.480 report in the New Jersey Journal, which and I love 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:40.480 that this is what some newspaper articles consisted of at 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:44.040 the time. It says, a young man with a cormorant 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:48.480 appetite meaning like gluttonous, A young man with a cormorant 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:54.320 appetite voraciously devoured last week at Connecticut farms, thirty raw eggs, 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:57.720 a glass of eggnog, and another of brandy sling. 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:00.600 Yeah, is this what newspapers were back in the day? 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:02.840 Did you have like a gluttony page? Fore you're like, 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:05.080 what's everybody overeating in New Jersey? 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:08.640 Stop the presses. We've got to get this story. This 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:12.760 hot story about the guy who ate thirty eggs in there. Okay, 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:15.480 so whatever eggnog is at the time, he had some 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:20.040 Another article is from October seventeen eighty eight in the 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:24.720 Independent Gazetteer of Philadelphia, where a writer was complaining about 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:28.400 an upset stomach and wrote, quote, when wine and beer, 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:32.000 punch and eggnog meat instantly ensues a. 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:34.400 Quarrel, there's wisdom to that. 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:37.800 I think, Yeah, I've only ever heard the liquor before 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:40.080 beer kind of thing. I've never heard it taken out 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:43.000 to four different things with like punch and eggnog in there. 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.880 You know, we were looking back at a time when 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:50.240 drinking was a little more robust throughout the country. 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:54.520 I think. Yeah. So anyway, yeah, I love the fact 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:57.160 that newspapers not only used to report on what some 0:16:57.320 --> 0:16:59.640 guy aded a form, but also what gave me an 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:06.080 upset tummy. So it sounds like an alcoholic beverage known 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:09.600 as eggnog was in common parlance in the colonies and 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:14.000 the young United States in the late eighteenth century. But 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:17.520 Zimmer also documents how an early example of eggnog was 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:21.280 associated with Christmas celebration by citing a piece in the 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:26.840 Virginia Chronicle from January seventeen ninety three, which reads as follows. 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:32.359 On last Christmas Eve, several gentlemen met at Northampton Courthouse 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:36.600 and spent the evening in mirth and festivity when eggnog 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:40.240 was the principal liquor used by the company. After they 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:43.679 had indulged pretty freely in this beverage, a gentleman in 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:45.840 the company offered a bet that not one of the 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:50.119 party could write four verses extempore, which should be rhyme 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:53.480 and sense. Okay, He's like, we're so drunk, I bet 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:57.199 none of you can write four lines of poetry that 0:17:57.320 --> 0:17:59.840 will make sense and rhyme. So what do they come 0:17:59.880 --> 0:18:00.320 on up with? 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:00.560 Will? 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:05.480 One guy belts out the following 'tis eggnog now, whose 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:10.199 golden streams dispense far richer treasures to the ravished sense 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:15.600 the muse from wine derives a transient glare, but Eggnog's 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:21.080 drafts afford her solid fare. So move over, wine. The 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:24.120 muses are no longer interested in you now they will 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:27.480 only be singing to people who are chug and agnog. 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.480 Eggnog doesn't seem to have a personification, though, like there's 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:33.879 no like Satyr of eggnog. 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:35.399 Right, the Dionysus of eggnog. 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:39.400 Yeah, I suppose it's you know, he was before its time. 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:42.520 I think he would have approved of eggnog, especially based 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:44.880 on these historical references to agnog. 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:48.120 So do we know exactly what they were putting in 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:51.560 eggnog at the time. Well, there's a book from seventeen 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:55.800 ninety nine called Travels through the States of North America 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:58.280 and the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada during the 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:01.440 years seventy ninety five ninety six ninety seven by an 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:06.840 Irish writer and explorer named Isaac Weld, And this passage 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:09.159 actually reminds me of earlier when you were citing I 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:13.119 think David Wondrich who said that sometimes people from Europe 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:17.400 might encounter eggnog and think, oh what, you know, what 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:21.760 crimes they're committing against a drinking culture here in the Americas. 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:24.720 And I wonder if there's a little bit of that 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:27.199 kind of raised eyebrow going on in this passage. But 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:30.080 we'll see what you think. So Weld is writing about 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:34.359 a stop at an inn near Baltimore, Maryland, where he writes, quote, 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:37.480 several travelers had stopped at the same house that I 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:39.479 did the first night I was on the road, and 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:43.280 we all breakfasted together preparatory to setting out the next morning. 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:47.639 The American travelers, before they pursued their journey, took a 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:51.760 hearty draft each. According to custom of eggnog, a mixture 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:57.199 composed of new milk, eggs, rum, and sugar beat up together. 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:02.639 So eggnog it should be heavy, suite, exploding with alcohol, 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:05.720 drunk in large quantities in the morning before setting out 0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:08.119 on a long journey. 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:11.080 Yeah, this is I mean it really it forces you 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:13.680 to rethink egnog because I think a lot of people 0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:17.840 are probably like like me, You grew up exposed to again, 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:20.800 the grocery store eggnog, and there's this kind of sense 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:23.640 that egnog is this drink for everybody. Eggnog's this drink 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:27.600 for kids. And as you get older, then you're perhaps 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:30.560 in a situation where you can have the eggnog with 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:34.520 something added to it, eggnog plus you know, if you 0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:40.119 like this. But the historical truth of egnog is no, 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:43.560 this is the thing that the really drunken adults are 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:45.600 having sometimes first thing in the morning. 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:50.600 Also regarding famous eggnog recipes from the early days, of 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:56.119 the United States. There is a famous recipe for eggnog 0:20:56.160 --> 0:21:00.560 that is alleged to come from George Washington's kitchen papers. 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:03.840 You'll find this if you google George Washington's Eggnog. I've 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:07.080 seen some serious doubt cast upon its origins, like whether 0:21:07.160 --> 0:21:11.560 it was actually Washington's. But according to the Farmer's Almanac, 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:15.119 this famous recipe goes as follows. It's one quart cream, 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:20.120 one quart milk, one dozen tablespoons sugar, one pint brandy, 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:23.600 half a pint rye whiskey, half a pint Jamaica rum, 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:27.320 and a quarter pint sherry. And then you mix the liquor. 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:31.160 Separate the yolks in the whites of twelve eggs, add 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:34.760 sugar to the beaten yolks. Mix well. Then you add 0:21:34.800 --> 0:21:38.000 milk and cream, slowly beating. Beat the whites of the 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:41.960 eggs until stiff peaks form, then fold slowly into the mixture. 0:21:42.240 --> 0:21:44.000 Then you let it sit in a cool place for 0:21:44.080 --> 0:21:50.200 several days. Then quote taste frequently. And I could be wrong, 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:53.359 but I believe this is the recipe that our our 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:57.560 colleague Alex Williams uses when he makes his famous eggnog. 0:21:57.720 --> 0:21:59.800 For all of our coworkers. 0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:03.359 Yes, it definitely is. This is definitely the recipe he 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:06.359 would use, and it is quite delightful. But yeah, I 0:22:06.440 --> 0:22:10.200 encountered the same thing. Looking at the actual history of this, 0:22:10.280 --> 0:22:15.360 there's some doubt as to whether George Washington actually serve this. 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:18.399 And then there are some accounts that say, well, it 0:22:18.400 --> 0:22:22.159 looks like maybe there's evidence that eggnog was served at 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:26.320 Mount Vernon, But as far as the precise recipe, I 0:22:26.359 --> 0:22:28.120 don't know that there's a lot of data to back 0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:31.760 that up. Yeah, though we will have we will touch 0:22:31.800 --> 0:22:35.439 on at least one former US president who did have 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:38.600 a recipe for eggnog and did serve it and drink it. 0:22:39.080 --> 0:22:41.440 All right, all this being said, before we proceed with egnog, 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:45.320 I think we can at least consider the possibility of 0:22:45.640 --> 0:22:49.800 predecessors that, Yes, even if egnog is something that emerges 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:54.600 in North America, there are at least things not unlike 0:22:54.680 --> 0:22:58.360 egnog that one can encounter, say in at least late 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:00.960 medieval and post medieval Europe. 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:04.160 Oh, yes, some gorgeous textures to imagine. 0:23:04.560 --> 0:23:06.520