Steve Pope wrote:
>
> Ranée at Arabian Knits > wrote:
>
> > Seriously? Do you think other parents or the school are going to get
> > worked up over vanilla? Somehow a bottle of Cognac seems more likely to
> > push anti-alcohol people over the edge far more than vanilla extract.
> > Muslims and Mormons will, for the most part, still use vanilla extract,
> > for instance, but won't get wine, beer or liquor.
>
> I'm not sure if Muslims use alcohol extracts, but I do know they
> are not available in the mid-east and Pakistani stores around here.
> There a number of aquaeous extracts though, of things like orange
> and rose.

Standard vanilla extract was never available in the Muslim shops in my
old neighbourhood either. Vanilla beans or vanilla powder was found
sometimes. But it wasn't a popular flavour with the locals anyway.

Alcohol-based perfumes were never available either. Oil-based and
aqueous concoctions only.

>
> Now I'm thinking that the popularity of preserved lemon might
> have something to do with avoidance of lemon extract -- both
> concentrate the oil component of the lemon flavor (the zest, as
> opposed to the juice component).
>
> Steve

Could be. Also could be that preserving foods with salt is likely to be
an older technique. Probably easier to do at home than making alcoholic
extracts.