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June 28, 2006 Some archaeologists believe beer was invented before bread and that bread was just a biproduct of beer making. Other archaeologists theorize just the opposite. The earliest sickles date to between 10,000 and 8,000 BC and were used to harvest a primitive kind of wild wheat known as emmer as well as wild barley. The earliest evidence of deliberate planting and harvesting of grains is 6700 BC in both Jericho, Israel and Jarmo, Iraq. The beer-first theorists say that beer was the motivation for cultivating these grains because emmer is too difficult to harvest just for food to make it worthwhile. The bread-first theorists say this is nonsense. They say a useful quantity of emmer can be harvested in a short period of time and it was being harvested before clay pots (necessary for fermentation) were invented. The beer-first theorists counter this by saying skin or wood containers could have been used. Both beer-first and bread-first theorists agree that gruel preceded bread and beer making. To make grass seed heads more easily digestible, they need to be pounded into flour and cooked with water until softened into a gruel. If the gruel is left to stand overnight, it ferments into a sour dough culture, the basis for bread and beer. The slaves who built all those monuments in honor of the Egyptian pharoahs subsisted on bread, beer, and if they were lucky, onions. The primitive beer they drank was like a sour soup with a low alcohol content and with some nutritional value. All early beers were sour and didn't keep well. Try this experiment: Open a bottle of beer at room temperature and let it sit for a week. It will become vinegar. Or instead of wasting good beer, you can just take my word for it. Sour beer was the norm until 1000 AD when beer makers started adding hops. Hops give beer its distinctive bitter flavor, but originally were used as a natural preservative that would at least delay the conversion of the alcohol into vinegar. Beer and wine were introduced to Europe from the Mediterranean, and if it wasn't for the Little Ice Age during the Medieval Period, beer may have remained less popular than wine there. Climatic conditions limited the cultivation of vinyards so beer became the drink of necessity. In 1516 the Bavarian Brewery Guilds standardized beer making and a law was passed stating that the only ingredients allowed in beer were water, barley, and hops. The next important advancement came in 1876 when Louis Pastuer discovered that it was yeast that made beer ferment and three years later he developed a pasteurization process that made it possible to preserve beer for far longer than ever before. The U.S. was founded by beer drinkers and guilded brewers. The pilgrims settled in Massachusetts instead of Virginia where they had planned to land because they were running out of beer and had to stop and make some. George Washington and Sam Adams were guilded brewmasters. Prohibition was an un-American infringement on freedom and thankfully overturned. Unfortunately, American beers are a little watered down because beer makers are afraid that an increase in public drunkeness will lead to calls for the return of prohibition. I have been sampling beer for twenty-six years and will now rate the top brands. 1. Heineken--a Dutch wonder. The best tasting beer and worth the extra dollar. 2. Warsteiner--a German beer almost as good as Heineken. U.S. soldiers who have been stationed in Germany say the Warsteiner we get over here isn't as good as the Warsteiner in Germany. Warsteiner drunk in Germany may be number one. 3. Sam Adams--Boston brewed with a rich flavor. If not for the slightly metallic taste, I'd rank this number one. 4. Budweiser--a good but bland post prohibition American style beer. They brew it with rice and barley, the former gives this beer a nice rounded taste. 5. Miller--Sorry, but in contradiction to the ads I give Budweiser a tiny edge. I drank one Bud and one Miller back to back and the taste was dead even. Budweiser won by having just a slightly better aftertaste. 6. Michelob--a pleasant low hop (and accordingly less bitter) beer. My wife isn't really a beer drinker, but she does find this kind palatable. 7. Coors--Ok. Wouldn't turn it down if offered. 8. Corona--Beer is popular in Mexico. It's hot down there and all that spicy food screams for something cold to wash it down. 9. Sierra Nevada--An acquired taste and all natural. Worst. Colt 45--Not even beer. It's a low alcohol wine made out of chicken feed and sent through a carbonization machine. I wouldn't drink this if it was the only "beer" on earth. Unlike wine, I don't think beer really goes well with meals, but it is a flavorful ingredient for many dishes. Here are a few of my favorites. A carbonnade is a wonderful and simple beef stew. Brown two pounds of seasoned round steak cut into stew size pieces and sautee two chopped onions. Pour a bottle of beer over this and simmer. The only other ingredient I would suggest is a tablespoon of prepared mustard. Beer and mustard really complement each other. Serve on salted, boiled potatoes. Beer and ketchup pot roast is a family favorite. Season a three pound round roast with salt and pepper and brown in a pan. Put the roast in a crockpot and deglaze the pan with a bottle of beer. Pour this on the roast and cover the meat with ketchup, chopped onions, and chopped celery. Simmer all day. Beer and ketchup is a match made in heaven. Frijoles barrachos is a gift from south of the border. Fry six strips of bacon, then add the grease and the bacon to a pound of pinto beans and a quart of water. Simmer until the beans are soft, adding salt to taste and water as necessary. Fifteen minutes before the beans are to be served add two chopped tomatoes and a few chopped hot peppers. Just before serving pour in a bottle of beer. I'm not sure if I invented beer batter fritters, (there probably are other frugal souls out there who've done this) but until I see a published recipe, I'll make the claim. Add a bottle of beer to one half pound of flour, a tablespoon of vegetable oil, and a teaspoon of salt. Beat three egg whites until they are stiff and fold them in. Dip fish fillets or shrimp in the batter and pan or deep fry them. There usually is a great deal of beer batter leftover. Take big spoonfuls of the batter and pan or deep fry them. Drain them on paper towels and bam them with powdered sugar. They taste like spongey doughnuts with a hint of beer flavor. The ancient Russians made beer out of watermelons. I couldn't find a recipe for watermelon beer, but I made up a modernized substitute that's probably better than what they used to make. Cut a watermelon on a plate. Take the juice that accumulates and mix it (the amount should be to taste) with your favorite beer. It's a cool refreshing treat on a hot summer evening. Reluctantly, I will now discuss the health hazards of drinking beer. Moderate beer drinking may actually be healthy, protecting us from diabetes, gall stones, and high blood pressure. Heavy beer drinking causes damage to the heart, liver, and kidneys. What's the difference between moderate drinking and heavy drinking? Even scientists don't know and the amount a person can drink without sustaining damage probably varies according to size, overall health, and genetics. A good rule of thumb might be: one or two beers are good, three or four beers and the bad and good cancel each other out, and five or more--probably not so good. As the human body ages, drinking becomes riskier and at the age of fourty-four I've noticed that my heart races a little the day after I've downed a few, but I recover completely in less than thirty-six hours. Two more unfortunate effects of beer consumption are sleep disruption and hangovers. Beer should not be used as a sleeping pill. It helps bring on sleep rapidly, but it's not a good quality sleep. To prevent hangovers caused by binging on beer, try a snack of cheese and crackers before bed. Don't take pain relievers until morning because the liver has a hard time detoxifying alcohol and acetominophan or ibuprofen simultaneously. ------------ About the author Mark Gelbart: My book, Talk Radio, is a black comedy about a radio talk show host who gets kidnapped and psychologically tortured by a loser. www.mark-gelbart.com Email: agelbart@aol.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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