Lee Rudolph wrote:
> "Jean B." > writes:
>
>> Does anyone have a recipe for ratafia essence? Actually, I may
>> have just the book to look in, but it is still packed. Somewhere.
>> I may not find it for a LONG time. I am looking at a recipe for
>> Harrogate Almond Tart that calls for that and ratafia biscuits
>> (which are described elsewhere as being much like amaretti). Oh,
>> and I do have bitter almond oil and can get apricot kernels.
>
> I presume you've already got as much information as the
> OED has, but in case you don't, or some other reader
> doesn't, here it is, excerpted from the full entry.
>
> The etymology is included, not as being helpful to your
> quest, but because I think it's cool.
>
> ==begin==
>
> Etymology: Apparently < French ratafia (although this is first
> attested slightly later: 1694 denoting a drink, 1675 as a toast
> in form ratafiat), of uncertain origin, perhaps ultimately
> (perhaps via Antilles Creole) < an unattested post-classical
> Latin expression *rata fiat, formula to seal a bargain (short
> for *rata fiat conventio let the agreement be ratified; 3rd
> singular present subjunctive of classical Latin r.r.: see ratio
> n.), used as a toast, and subsequently understood to be the name
> of the drink. Compare Louisiana French Creole tafia (18th cent.),
> probably < French, with loss of the first syllable.
>
> [inserted comment from LR: maybe you could include "tafia"
> in your searches to some good effect]
>
> 1. a. (a) A liqueur made by steeping nuts, kernels, fruits,
> or herbs in any sweetened spirit; (b) a sweet aperitif traditional
> in several regions of France, made by adding brandy to unfermented
> grape juice and ageing it in a barrel; sometimes flavoured with herbs
> and other fruits.
>
> Almonds and the kernels of cherries, apricots, and peaches are the
> ingredients most commonly used to flavour ratafia (sense 1a(a)).
>
> ...
>
> b. More fully ratafia essence. An essence used as a flavouring for
> food and drink, typically extracted from almonds or the kernels of
> cherries, apricots, and peaches (cf. sense 1a(a)).
> ...
> 1851 Penny Cycl. Suppl. I. 106/1 This substance...forms...the
> volatile oil of bitter almonds.... It is sold in different degrees
> of dilution to cooks, confectioners, and others, to flavour cakes
> and liqueurs, under the name of essence of ratafia.
> ...
> 1998 C. G. Sinclair Internat. Dict. Food & Cooking 445/2
> Ratafia essence, an alcoholic extract of the kernels of cherries,
> peaches, almonds and other stone fruits used as a flavouring.
> ...
>
> ==end==
>
> I do have one other book that might contain an actual
> recipe (it's a just-pre-FDA compilation of compounding
> druggists' recipes, for such things as asthma cigarettes
> incorporating both tobacco and dried Jimson weed, and
> hemorrhoidal suppositories made with extract of opium,
> cocaine, and belladonna; but it also has some recipes
> for condiments--e.g., a Worcestershire sauce that only
> has a *little* choloroform in it--, and some for liqueurs);
> and in fact, I actually saw it (for the first time in
> years) while trying to rationalize my office last month.
> But today it's gone missing again.
>
> Lee Rudolph (which may be a good thing; after rereading
> that, completely serious, list of examples, I've decided
> that any recipe for ratafia in that book would probably
> involve prussic acid...)

I thought it was cyanide or some related thing. This may help. I
see it COULD be bitter almond oil, although one shouldn't use a
lot of that. The impression I have is that it is more in the
almond-bitter almond family than one that contains the fruits
themselves. I am not sure how good a substitute current almond
extract would be, although I gather it does contain some bitter
almond.

My source, which I managed to find, didn't contain this, alas. I
have one more source and really have no idea where it is. I am
also thinking I might look in MacKenzie's 10,000 and my
techno-chemical receipt book, but again, they are still not organized.

Hmmm. Maybe something like this from Ellet's "Practical
Housekeeper Containing 5000 Receipts & Maxims":

Ratafia.--Blanch two ounces of peach and apricot kernels, bruise
and put them into a bottle, and fill nearly up with brandy.
Dissolve half a pound of white sugar-candy in a cup of cold water,
and add to the brandy after it has stood a month on the kernels,
and they are strained off; then filter through paper and bottle
for use. The distilled leaves of peaches and nectarines, when the
trees are cut in the spring, are an excellent substitute for
ratafia in puddings.

But is this an essence????

--
Jean B.