鸡公艾尔(英語:cock ale)是一种在17至18世纪流行于英国的艾尔啤酒,要制作这种啤酒,需要将装满了去皮去肚的半熟公鸡及各种水果香料的袋子,浸泡入普通艾尔啤酒的酿酒桶中。
《牛津英语词典》将“Cock ale”描述为“除其余成分外,还与煮熟的公鸡肉冻或肉糜混合的艾尔啤酒”,[1]并将该饮品追溯至17世纪中期。在凯内尔姆·迪格比的《橱柜揭秘》(Closet Opened,1669年)一书中,将其制作过程介绍为:
取八加仑艾尔酒;取一只公鸡煮熟;然后取四磅去核自然风干的葡萄干、两三个肉豆蔻、三四片肉豆蔻皮、半磅海枣;用臼舂碎,再取两夸脱最好的白葡萄酒;放入酿造好的艾尔酒中,将其封存六七天后装瓶,一月后即可饮用。[2]
1739年的《完美家庭主妇》介绍了相似的配方:
取十加仑艾尔酒和一只大公鸡,越老越好;把公鸡煮熟,去皮,在石臼捣至骨碎(去皮时应一并去除内脏);然后将公鸡放进两夸脱的麻袋里,放入三磅晒干的葡萄干、一些肉豆蔻皮和少许丁香。将之装入帆布袋中。在艾尔酒即将酿造完成时,把艾尔酒和袋子一并装入容器中;等上一周至九天后灌装入瓶;让酒刚好没过瓶颈,并按其他艾尔酒的时长等待熟成。[3]
托马斯·富勒的《即兴药典》(Pharmacopœia extemporanea,1710年)里提供了肺痨艾尔(Pectoral Ale,咳嗽药)的配方,如果加上煮熟的鸡,显然可以变成鸡公艾尔。富勒解释说,这种饮料“能使血液和体液中的酸性物质变甜,激活粘稠的痰液,促进排痰,焕发肺部活力,提供温和的营养,对于治疗恶化前的肺痨也非常有益。”[4]约翰·诺特(John Nott)的《厨师和糖果师词典》(Cooks and Confectioner's Dictionary,1723年)中也宣传了这种饮料的所谓药用价值,该词典声称鸡公艾尔“对肺痨有好处,并有化腐为奇之效”。[5]
一位当代传记作者声称,威廉三世国王更喜欢鸡公艾尔而不是葡萄酒。[6]在罗伯特·纳雷斯的《词汇表》(Glossary)中,这种饮料被描述为“一种在17世纪因其卓越品质而非常有名的艾尔酒”[7]。该词条还引用了奈德·沃德在《伦敦间谍》中的一段话,其中称鸡公艾尔是“小啤酒和糖浆的混合物”,不过作者还补充说,“我说,如果这是鸡公艾尔,那就让鸡头喝吧。”[8]内森·贝利(Nathan Bailey)的《大英词典》(Dictionarium britannicum,1736年)将其描述为一种“令人愉快的饮料,据说具有挑逗性”,[9]弗朗西斯·格罗斯的《俗语经典词典》(Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue,1785年)也反映了这种观点,称其具有挑逗性。[10]威廉·亨利·纽金特(William Henry Nugent)在1929年时声称,鸡公艾尔是面包和艾尔酒的混合物,是斗鸡的食物。[11]
有几位作者推断,“Cock ale”可能已经讹变为了“cocktail”(鸡尾酒),这是一个在1806年首次使用的美国词,其来源现已失传。[12][13][14]
- 脚注
Digby 2007,第99頁 原文:Take eight Gallons of Ale; take a Cock and boil him well; then take four pounds of Raisins of the Sun well stoned, two or three Nutmegs, three or four flakes of Mace, half a pound of Dates; beat these all in a Mortar, and put to them two quarts of the best Sack; and when the Ale hath done working, put these in, and stop it close six or seven days, and then bottle it, and a month after you may drink it.
Smith 1739,第222–223頁 原文:Take ten gallons of ale, and a large cock, the older the better; parboil the cock, flay him, and stamp him in a stone mortar till his bones are broken (you must craw and gut him when you flay him); then put the cock into two quarts of sack, and put it to three pounds of raisins of the sun stoned, some blades of mace, and a few cloves; put all these into a canvas bag, and a little before you find the ale has done working, put the ale and bag together into a vessel; in a week or nine days time bottle it up; fill the bottle but just above the neck, and give the same time to ripen as other ale.
Pectoral Ale, pascalbonenfant.com, [2011-06-18], (原始内容存档于2011-10-07), sweetens the Acrimony of the blood and humours, incites clammy phlegm, facilitates expectoration, invigorates the lungs, supplies soft nourishment, and is very profitable even in a consumption itself, if not too far gone.
Nott 1723 原文:good against a Consumption, and to restore a decay'd Nature.
原文:a sort of ale which was very celebrated in the seventeenth century for its superior quality.
Nares 1859 原文:if this be cock-ale, said I, e'en let cocks-combs drink it.
- 传记
- Anon, The Life of William III, Fleet Street, London: S and J Sprint, J Nicholson, 1703 [2021-09-01], (原始内容存档于2021-09-01)
- Bailey, Nathan, Dictionarium Britannicum, Royal Exchange, London: T Cox, 1736 [2021-09-01], (原始内容存档于2021-09-15)
- Chrysti, Verbivore's feast: a banquet of word & phrase origins, Helena, MT: Farcountry Press, 2004 [2021-09-01], ISBN 1-56037-265-6, (原始内容存档于2020-08-05)
- Digby, Kenelm, The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened, Middlesex: Echo Library, 2007, ISBN 978-1-4068-6120-4
- Grose, Francis, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, High Holborn, London: S Hooper, 1785 [2021-09-01], (原始内容存档于2013-06-04)
- Nares, Robert, A glossary, London: J R Smith, 1859 [2021-09-01], (原始内容存档于2021-11-25)
- Nott, John, The Cooks and Confectioner's Dictionary, St Pauls, London: C Rivington, 1723 [2021-09-01], (原始内容存档于2021-09-01)
- Nugent, William Henry, Cock Fighting Today, The American mercury 17 (American Mercury), 1929, 17
- Powers, Madelon, Faces along the bar: lore and order in the workingman's saloon, 1870-1920, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998 [2021-09-01], ISBN 0-226-67768-0, (原始内容存档于2019-12-23)
- Smith, Eliza, The compleat housewife, Fleet Street, London: J and J Pemberton, 1739 [2021-09-01], (原始内容存档于2022-06-28)