SECRETS of HIERBAS and ABSINTHE

Hierbas is an alcoholic beverage made by the Ibicencos at home.

It is a transparent brown colored liquid which contains branches of rosemary, laurel a wide variety of aromatic native plants like anise (the strongest ingredient), fennel, and slices of lemon.

These are all placed in an open bottle and set to ferment naturally.

Health inspections have begun to limit the home-grown production by forcing labeling of the indredients, but 'Hierbas' has been produced on Ibiza and Formentera since time immemorial, and many familes are extremely proud of thier recipes passed down over generations. It is the IBICENCAN DRINK par excellance..and is usually served over ice.

ABSINTH: "The Devil's Drink"

The invention of the formula for Absinth is attributed to a an eccentric Swiss doctor (and French exile) named Pierre Ordinaire. He prescribed this drink for a wide variety of illnesses , and it is made by boiling a concentrate of wormwood (artemsia absintium), and then adding anise, hyssop and fennel.

IN 1797 Luis Pernod bought the recipe and began manufacturing it commercially.

It has been blamed with causing epilepsy and deleriums, however the principal cause of these accusations was probably the 'tujone', an ingredient found in wormwood which causes hallucinations, and the toxic green coloring, aspic acetate and antimony trichloride (The ingredient that makes it turn cloudy when water is added).

It has been outlawed in many countries (Spain is not one of them) but contiues its' popularity in all of Europe....many believe because of its association with many famous artists...like Van Gough, Tolouse-Latrec, Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allen Poe.