nuppe

Thank you all, including Doodad! Right now I'm too much busy to take part in my own discussion, but yours is most helpful! I'll come back.

Does anyone know old Scottish cookboks from the period 1840-1920, which are worth mentioning? (Works about British cookbooks as historical sources are also of interest.)

This seems to cover the most. Good! Thanks!

The word pepper refers to a wide range of spices and ingredients, though I suppose the origin is related to the peppercorns of the original Southern Indian piper nigrum. (correct me if I'm wrong)Thereafter the world became familiar with the hotter of the American pepper fruits, like jalapeno, chili, and cayenne. We have a diversity of names and,I suppose, of flavors. But I think it is difficult to find words for the different members of the large "pepper family". Could anyone help me with the basic differences and interesting shades?

Now you make me want to drink Japanese again! Just one more question: When you talk of green tea and shibui; is that just about taste/sensation or does also the cultural-aesthetical dimension of the word join in? (or maybe this is a question that doesn't make sense, I feel I make the tea a little complicated)

I get a feeling that Okinawa is the place to go to feel bitterness!

I suppose beer is a little nigai? We do have a Norwegian word (stram) that might be used the same ways as astringent, but few people are aware of the distinction.

Interesting and fascinating! I actually wondered if there was a connection between the love of umami and the attitude towards bitterness.

Inspired by the beer part of the nomimono thread I have a question. What part does bitter taste play in Japanese food and drinking? I think the natural thing for human beings is to avoid bitterness. Still, in “Western” food culture we have a quite lot of popular food stuffs and drinks with bitter elements – including some wines and of course beer and coffee. Do we find bitterness also in typical Japanese products or traditions?

Thank you, both of you. And yes, I was right: this was the right place to go to get an understanding of this. By the way; I suppose unclean water in the West must have been more of a problem in cities and some villages than in the countryside. Personally I drink water directly from creeks, rivers, lakes and springs several times every season. But not everywhere of course.

I remember I used to replace white wine with lemon or lemon and water when making steamed mussels (with onion and or garlic)

Barley tea? I thought barley was a new thing in Japan. Have you tasted it?

Thank you, Hiroyuki, you're my saviour as so many times before! I get the impression that quite a lot of the old drinking was hot. Is it so? Yes, a long time since I was here. Suppose I must have been somehwere else. Hope so:-) Now I actually consider a text about Mr. William Copeland, the Norwegian borne American who established the forerunner of Kirin. But there will be a lot of fog to cut through to understand his life and deeds. No matter what: so nice to see you are still here - and all the other as well!