Malört: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit is an interesting monograph by Josh Noel on the history, uses, and culture surrounding Jeppson's Malört, a Swedish American alcoholic spirit. Due out 3rd Sept 2024 from the Chicago Review Press, it's 264 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.
Taste in cuisine and drink is obviously widely varying, however, Malört is undeniably intensely bitter and has a completely tongue-paralyzing, bizarre flavor at first sip. It's more or less indescribable, however, as the author quips in the introduction: It's been compared to
"a forest fire, if the forest was made of earwax", "burnt vinyl car seat condensation", "hairspray and death" and "pencil shavings and heartbreak".
Nevertheless, the liqueur has persisted and even thrived. It's been available for over a century, and doesn't appear to be going anywhere. This book, pithily written, accessible for non-gastronoms, and humorous, delineates the history, uses, and some of the truly unique folks behind the obsession.
It's a very entertaining read, mostly about George Brode, a lawyer by trade and one-man-crusader for the liqueur which is essentially grain-neutral alcohol (vodka) aged on wormwood, which is an intensely bitter semi-poisonous woody perennial native to Europe/Asia/and North Africa. Along for the ride was his secretary, a Chicago native named Pat Gabelick, who quit 2 weeks after being hired (too much filing) and was convinced to stay by a pay raise and wound up staying 33 years.
The author has a wonderful facility with presenting the history and culture without ever once devolving into dry factual recitations. It's a thoroughly entertaining read.
Five stars. Plucky, funny, and engaging. It would be a great choice for public library acquisition, and a -wonderful- gift for the foodies on the holiday gift list.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
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