12/19/2020

NuiWhakakore
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NuiWhakakore
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On dry land
The Miss Fortune had been lying in the small bay in crystal clear water for a week. A small, uninhabited island north of Trinidad. The captain lay on the bridge deck under an awning watching his crew.
The vast majority of them were on the nearby beach. One group was playing a ball game with a coconut. Nothing out of the ordinary. However, it had been going on for an hour and no brawl had yet occurred, which again was very unusual. The captain turned back to his drink, something with citrus and honey. With a homemade umbrella. Cute, in a way.
Shouts from the booth drew his attention back to his crew. Well, finally, he thought, about time. But it was the happy cries of the kitchen crew, frolicking in waist-deep water and splashing each other wet. Cook O'Connel, a surly Irishman, was there too. Now he even submerged himself and came back to the surface shortly after, snorting and laughing. O'Connel had only come near water to boil potatoes in the last 10 years. That's how he smelled and that's how the food tasted.
So something was very wrong here and the captain knew when it had started too...
Coming from Cuba, they had run out of rum. Unforgivable for the provisionmaster, who was also promptly keelhauled. After that, they still had no rum (and also no more Proviantmeister), but the mood improved briefly. This didn't last long, of course, and after a few days the crew was on the verge of mutiny and so irritable that they could massacre each other at any time.
In the mess who the mood as well as the air to cut. Fortunately the tobacco was not out too, or they would not have lasted so long. Then one-eyed Pete remembered a box they had captured on the last trip. It contained small clay vials. In desperation he took one and greedily poured the contents down his throat. After he had stopped coughing and retching, he hurled the bottle against the port wall, where it shattered. Instantly the room was filled with a sweet and spicy smell and a smile crept onto the unwashed faces of the pirates present. One-eyed Pete was still a little green in the face, but everyone agreed that his bad breath had gotten a lot better.
The mood among the crew improved instantly. So enthusiastic were they about the smell that they used the remaining bottles to clean the whole ship, all the decks, the sails and even the guns. A miracle; it was the 24th of December. And so they had been lying here for a week now, and the rum was forgotten...
It was clear to the captain, of course, that this could not go on. This is no pirate's life, after all; they would soon have to go on another privateering expedition, robbing, plundering, pillaging. But not today, he thought, maybe tomorrow...
-----------
Acqua di Cuba is once again a very fine one from Santa Maria Novella. Fresh lemony start and then immediately a lot of cardamom and honey. It is quite a spicy forest honey with honeycomb / wax and not so extremely sweet. With more spices (cloves, aniseed, allspice?) it's somewhat reminiscent of honey cake, but before the impression becomes too culinary a good portion of tobacco spice is added. As it goes on, not much changes, sage adds a touch of freshness and the whole thing gets a touch sweeter, the wax note gets stronger. The shelf life is really good, 8-10 hours.
Even without rum a great fragrance for pirates, thanks to Anne "Toppine" Bonny!
The vast majority of them were on the nearby beach. One group was playing a ball game with a coconut. Nothing out of the ordinary. However, it had been going on for an hour and no brawl had yet occurred, which again was very unusual. The captain turned back to his drink, something with citrus and honey. With a homemade umbrella. Cute, in a way.
Shouts from the booth drew his attention back to his crew. Well, finally, he thought, about time. But it was the happy cries of the kitchen crew, frolicking in waist-deep water and splashing each other wet. Cook O'Connel, a surly Irishman, was there too. Now he even submerged himself and came back to the surface shortly after, snorting and laughing. O'Connel had only come near water to boil potatoes in the last 10 years. That's how he smelled and that's how the food tasted.
So something was very wrong here and the captain knew when it had started too...
Coming from Cuba, they had run out of rum. Unforgivable for the provisionmaster, who was also promptly keelhauled. After that, they still had no rum (and also no more Proviantmeister), but the mood improved briefly. This didn't last long, of course, and after a few days the crew was on the verge of mutiny and so irritable that they could massacre each other at any time.
In the mess who the mood as well as the air to cut. Fortunately the tobacco was not out too, or they would not have lasted so long. Then one-eyed Pete remembered a box they had captured on the last trip. It contained small clay vials. In desperation he took one and greedily poured the contents down his throat. After he had stopped coughing and retching, he hurled the bottle against the port wall, where it shattered. Instantly the room was filled with a sweet and spicy smell and a smile crept onto the unwashed faces of the pirates present. One-eyed Pete was still a little green in the face, but everyone agreed that his bad breath had gotten a lot better.
The mood among the crew improved instantly. So enthusiastic were they about the smell that they used the remaining bottles to clean the whole ship, all the decks, the sails and even the guns. A miracle; it was the 24th of December. And so they had been lying here for a week now, and the rum was forgotten...
It was clear to the captain, of course, that this could not go on. This is no pirate's life, after all; they would soon have to go on another privateering expedition, robbing, plundering, pillaging. But not today, he thought, maybe tomorrow...
-----------
Acqua di Cuba is once again a very fine one from Santa Maria Novella. Fresh lemony start and then immediately a lot of cardamom and honey. It is quite a spicy forest honey with honeycomb / wax and not so extremely sweet. With more spices (cloves, aniseed, allspice?) it's somewhat reminiscent of honey cake, but before the impression becomes too culinary a good portion of tobacco spice is added. As it goes on, not much changes, sage adds a touch of freshness and the whole thing gets a touch sweeter, the wax note gets stronger. The shelf life is really good, 8-10 hours.
Even without rum a great fragrance for pirates, thanks to Anne "Toppine" Bonny!
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