arrack

[Vikram]

A friend from the catering industry, in a fit of post monsoon cleaning, has just gifted me four bottles of Israeli arrack. I quite like it occasionally - that's why I became the recipient of this gift - but four bottles looks like its going to last my lifetime. Can anyone suggest uses for it? Its such powerfully flavoured stuff I find it hard to imagine how one could create a cocktail with it,

Vikram

[DrinkBoy]

Is Israeli arrack the same as Batavian arrack? If so, try this:

Arrack Punch

Combine in mixing glass:

1 1/2 oz Arrack

1 oz rum

1/2 oz lime juice

1/2 oz simple syrup

3 oz distilled water

Shake well with cracked ice, pour unstrained into a tall glass and garnish with a few raspberries and wedges of orange. Lance with straw and serve.

The above is based on a recipe by Jerry Thomas, published in 1862.

-Robert

[Vikram]

This sounds great, but Batavian I guess means it comes from Indonesia, in which case its more likely to be like the arrak of South India, a cheap, ultra strong spirit. The arrack I'm talking about is the Middle Eastern kind, very strongly flavoured with anise, so if I use the proportions in your recipe, the anise would drown out all other tastes. Looks like I'm going to have these bottles for life!

Vikram

[tryska]

how about using it with coke as a mixer? simple easy - the tastes should compliment.

might try ginger ale too...that would be kind of exotic tasting.

or maybe cream. that could make for a good after-dinner liquer.

(mind all of this is based on never having tasted arrack, and going on the anise note)

Edited September 25, 2003 by tryska (log)

[curlywurlyfi]

friend of mine started a cocktail cabinet specifically to be filled with the vilest imaginable liqueurs + spirits. It became a point of honour to bring him something repellent from far flung places. My contribution was a delightful Italian aperitif (? I'm guessing) called Cynar, made from artichokes. Nice. Other contenders included snake wine from China, 100% proof homemade vodka from Kyrgyzstan, a chocolate cream sherry liqueur from Ireland and some other thing which looked like it included a dead finger. I'm not suggesting that arrack is along those lines, but... who knows, you could give a bottle to a friend of yours and set them off in a whole new collecting direction??

[britcook]

Stick it in the gas tank of your car when you want a little extra oooomph.

[Vikram]

friend of mine started a cocktail cabinet specifically to be filled with the vilest imaginable liqueurs + spirits. It became a point of honour to bring him something repellent from far flung places.

If your friend ever gets to Goa, remind him to pick up a bottle of Goan white port! The red port is OK, in a sort of cough syrup way, but the white defies description.

I don't think I'd put the arrack in that category, as I said, I quite like it, in small doses. Its not dissimilar to sambuca, just slightly more raw tasting. Any cocktails that use sambuca?

A friend from Istanbul tells me that she had a really good drink there made from arrack, almond syrup, bitter lemon syrup and club soda. Might be worth trying,

Vikram

[tryska]

here's molinari's cocktail cookbook to give you some inspiration...

http://www.molinari.it/eng/index2.html

[beans]

I've had Middle Eastern arrack. It was mixed with water and turned a milky colour. I'll ask my friends that shared this with me on other suggestions....

[beans]

I've found a million arrack punches. Arrack is sort of a generic term I have learned....

Here's one of the few that were different! Autumn Leaf

It is mentioned here in an article I found a month or so ago for a cocktails class. Esquire Article Again punch!

If I find anything else further, I will happily post!

[KatieLoeb]

I've had Middle Eastern arrack.  It was mixed with water and turned a milky colour.  I'll ask my friends that shared this with me on other suggestions....

An Armenian friend of mine tells a story about he and his younger brother stealing Grandma's homemade arak (sp?) out of the liquor cabinet until they realized they'd had enough that it was noticable. They decided to put some water in it to bring it back up to its former level in the bottle but were horrified when it turned milky!

They were predictably busted by the parental units soon thereafter...

[beans]

Katie -

Acceptable spelling. There are, at least, four versions of this word for this anise flavoured liquor.

[Jason Perlow]

Arak is basically the same stuff as Ouzo or Sambuca. Any recipe that calls for those you can use Arak as well. In turkey Ouzo/Arak is called Raki. Cook up a leg of lamb, invite over a few swarthy friends, slice off some meat, make some shwarma sandwiches, have some babaghanoush and hummus and some pita bread, and get shitfaced. Now thats a party. Arak/Ouzo/Raki can be done straight in shots or mixed with some cold water to cause it to louche (get cloudy). Have fun.

You can also flame up some sausages in the Arak, it imparts a nice flavor to it. Find yourself some greek loukanikou or something similar like a spanish chorizo and flambe' that sucker. Serve with some rice pilaf.

I'd also use it in substitute for rum for a rum cake recipe. Make a couple of heavily soaked ones and give them away to some buddies. Or get some fruitcakes during the holiday season and preserve them in arak for a week or two (or three, or four) to get those fruits nice and macerated and the cake all soaked up with it.

[Jason Perlow]

Here's another Arak punch recipe:

http://www.thatsthespirit.com/recipe.asp?r...?recipe_id=1424

And here's some information about how Raki/Arak and Ouzo is consumed with food:

http://www.anatolia.com/anatolia/Food_and_...Beverages/Raki/

And another interesting page

http://www.sfakia-crete.com/sfakia-crete/raki.html

[beans]

Arak is basically the same stuff as Ouzo or Sambuca. Any recipe that calls for those you can use Arak as well. In turkey Ouzo/Arak is called Raki. Cook up a leg of lamb, invite over a few swarthy friends, slice off some meat, make some shwarma sandwiches, have some babaghanoush and hummus and some pita bread, and get shitfaced. Now thats a party. Arak/Ouzo/Raki can be done straight in shots or mixed with some cold water to cause it to louche (get cloudy). Have fun.

You can also flame up some sausages in the Arak, it imparts a nice flavor to it. Find yourself some greek loukanikou or something similar like a spanish chorizo and flambe' that sucker. Serve with some rice pilaf.

I'd also use it in substitute for rum for a rum cake recipe. Make a couple of heavily soaked ones and give them away to some buddies. Or get some fruitcakes during the holiday season and preserve them in arak for a week or two (or three, or four) to get those fruits nice and macerated and the cake all soaked up with it.

Oh Jason, that is in the spirit of it all.

[Vikram]

Many thanks all, now I have some prospects of getting through these bottles. The rum cake suggestion was particularly promising.

or mixed with some cold water to cause it to louche (get cloudy).

Just curious, why does this cloudiness happen?

Vikram

[Jason Perlow]

It has to do with the chemical properties of aniseed, which Arak, Ouzo and Raki is flavoried with.

[tryska]

perhaps the resin erm.... clumps for lack of a better word?

i know this happens when i drop resinous tinctures into water.

[dankphishin]

yeah, i'm Armenian, we usually drink the Lebanese variety. the best way i think to drink it would be with some ice, waters the strongness down a bit. Arak still rocks your world, though.

[herbacidal]

i do like raki.

had some a few months ago.

the mixing with water murky effect was pretty cool.

[drinkingchef]

Maybe try using it in deserts. I have made a creme brulee of sorts with sambuca that was amazing. Fill half a ramakin or dish with dark chocolate mousse. Let that set. Fill the top with an anglaise flavored with the arak. Set the anglaise with a tiny bit of gelatin, so there is no need to bake it. Let it set, then brulee. The combination of flavors is really nice. I wouldn't have guessed that a licorice flavor went with dark chocolate, but its amazing when it is in a creamy base. This doesn't take much alcohol to flavor. But it tastes so great, you will just have to make it often. Hope this helps.

[Jason Perlow]

A friend at a greek restaurant told me a few days ago that ouzo/raki/arak is used as a flavoring in cookies, and its also used to flavor their awesome keftethes, Greek meatballs made from lamb or beef, pork or beef/pork.

http://www.greekcuisine.com/oldsite/detail...tml?RecipeID=59

http://www.recipecottage.com/beef-veal/mea...eatballs15.html

http://www.recipesource.com/munchies/appet...07/rec0736.html

Note that its a "secret" ingredient, its not listed in the recipes here, but if you add a shot of it to a pound or two of meat it will do the trick to give it that unique flavor.

[Behemoth]

Okay, I really have to get on my high horse about this one.

Mixing good arak with anything but water is like drinking lephroaig with coke.

The proper way to drink it is this: 1/3 arak, 2/3 cold water. If you want ice in there be sure to put it in after the water, otherwise the arak with curdle. Arak is always consumed with meals. (Pretty much unsurpassed as an accompaniment to kibbe nayeh, olives, salty goat cheeses).

"Arak" means sweat, which refers to condensation during the distillation process. It is not like Pastis, as it properly contains only two ingredients, grapes and native anisseed. The best kinds are made with obeidi grapes (ancestor of chardonnay, I've read...), distilled 4 times, and aged in clay jars for a year. It is expensive to produce, so if you are buying something cheap it is probably just ethanol infused with anisseed -- a common trick, and the reason why this drink gets its bad rep.

Ksara or Fakhra are acceptable commonly found brands, but if you can get your hands on it, Massaya (in the blue bottle) is probably the best commerical brand available, and is worth the price. I have one bottle left and I ain't sharing.

I'm not militant about most things, but Arak is the exception. I really think it is a misunderstood beverage and in my experience when people have it done right they become converts. eGulleteers will allow me this one pedantic moment, right? It's for your own good!

Oh, the clouding comes from the emulsification of the anise oils suspended in alcohol. If you really want to know more, you could always read this paper

on small angle neutron scattering.

Actually, this is why arak curdles when you add the ice first: the anise oils seize up instead of dispersing evenly throughout the drink.