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Akvavit means "water of life." Eau-de-vie. Broadly applied to all the principal indigenous spirits of the Scandinavian countries. This is an often colourless or lightly colored grain or potato based spirit. The best known brand in the world is Danish, but it is produced throughout Scandinavia. It is flavoured with cumin and aniseed, caraway seeds, dill or fennel. It should be served really very cold and is often drunk with beer before or after a meal. It is also drunk during a meal, particularly an open sandwich meal which includes pickled herrings – traditionally a shot of aquavit with each different type – or when a particular mature cheese, gammel ole, is offered.
A cocktail consisting of 90 ml (3 fl oz) Danish akvavit, 45 ml (1½ fl oz) clam juice, 45 ml (1½ fl oz) tomato juice, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, salt, black and cayenne pepper. Stir vigorously in a mixing glass, chill thoroughly. Serve with ice in an Old Fashioned glass.
Eel pout. A relative of the cod but with the appearance of an eel, in which manner it is cooked. It is a freshwater fish with a yellowish, elongated cylindrical body, speckled with brown and covered in slime. The burbot can grow to 1 meter (3 ft) in length. In France it is particularly abundant in the lakes of Savoy. Once caught it is skinned and then prepared in the same way as a lamprey or an eel. Its oily and almost boneless flesh is very popular. However, in France, it is primarily eaten for its enormous liver which is made into pâté or it is fried in the same way as calf’s liver.
