Alice B. Toklas's Hashish Fudge
November 22, 2019 3:55 AM Subscribe
Take one teaspoon black peppercorns, one whole nutmeg, four average sticks of cinnamon, one teaspoon coriander. These should all be pulverized in a mortar. About a handful each of stoned dates, dried figs, shelled almonds and peanuts: chop these and mix them together. A bunch of Cannabis sativa can be pulverized. This along with the spices should be dusted over the mixed fruit and nuts, kneaded together. About a cup of sugar dissolved in a big pat of butter. Rolled into a cake and cut into pieces or made into balls about the size of a walnut, it should be eaten with care. Two pieces are quite sufficient. (From. Via)
I love my dates stoned.
posted by MtDewd at 4:13 AM on November 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by MtDewd at 4:13 AM on November 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Can you eat pot that hasn’t been cooked in fat or infused in alcohol? Will it work?
posted by panama joe at 5:30 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by panama joe at 5:30 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yes and yes, but not as well as if you'd done either of these.
This recipe does involve a lot of butter, so some of the active ingredients should end up fat-borne, even if not as effectively as if you just made cannabutter.
posted by Dysk at 5:36 AM on November 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
This recipe does involve a lot of butter, so some of the active ingredients should end up fat-borne, even if not as effectively as if you just made cannabutter.
posted by Dysk at 5:36 AM on November 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Huh. Yeah wow, I guess now that it’s legal in places, so you can grow it yourself and it costs basically nothing. But we woulda never been that wasteful back in the day.
posted by panama joe at 5:46 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by panama joe at 5:46 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
‘course, I was broke then, so...
posted by panama joe at 5:52 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by panama joe at 5:52 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Can you eat pot that hasn’t been cooked in fat or infused in alcohol? Will it work?
Yes, but the heat of cooking/baking works to convert THCA and CBDA into THC and CBD, through a process called decarboxylation. Baking in a recipe like this probably isn't quite as effective as direct decarbing of the weed, but, since the process occurs at around 240°F, the results will still be pretty effective.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:12 AM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Yes, but the heat of cooking/baking works to convert THCA and CBDA into THC and CBD, through a process called decarboxylation. Baking in a recipe like this probably isn't quite as effective as direct decarbing of the weed, but, since the process occurs at around 240°F, the results will still be pretty effective.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:12 AM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
There doesn't actually appear to be any baking, though. I'm not sure how well this would work. Not well at all, I suspect.
posted by howfar at 6:14 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by howfar at 6:14 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
It looks like it would be pretty tasty without the pot, and that way you don't have to limit yourself to two pieces.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 6:16 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 6:16 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Though the recipe was included in her 1954 cookbook, this is not really Alice B. Toklas's hashish fudge. It's Brion Gysin's:
With her book’s deadline mere months away and having space to fill, Toklas decided to get by with a little help from her friends. She asked those from her social circle to contribute some of their own recipes. Unbeknownst to Toklas, Gysin’s contribution was also a way to get high with a little help from her friends. Apparently, Toklas was unaware of what “canibus” (which is how Gysin spelled it) was and had no time to test out the recipes her friends submitted so she sent it to her publisher, oblivious to any controversy it might cause.
posted by neroli at 6:39 AM on November 22, 2019 [12 favorites]
With her book’s deadline mere months away and having space to fill, Toklas decided to get by with a little help from her friends. She asked those from her social circle to contribute some of their own recipes. Unbeknownst to Toklas, Gysin’s contribution was also a way to get high with a little help from her friends. Apparently, Toklas was unaware of what “canibus” (which is how Gysin spelled it) was and had no time to test out the recipes her friends submitted so she sent it to her publisher, oblivious to any controversy it might cause.
posted by neroli at 6:39 AM on November 22, 2019 [12 favorites]
Cute, but you can eat all the ground cannabis sativa you want as these cookies without being concerned about getting high. You will not feel any effects from eating unheated cannabis. The compound that causes the euphoric effects needs to be decarboxylated to be effective. This is BS, unfortunately.
posted by Patapsco Mike at 6:41 AM on November 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Patapsco Mike at 6:41 AM on November 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
Huh, I was given a copy of this book at an Gertrude Stein themed party at one of the last historical squats on the lower east side, they projected the documentary she narrated about her life and served food buffet style in sexually suggestive arrangements. They had samples of the fudge but as it was made by journeymen cannabist cooks I’m sure it was treated to create the intended effect. I didn’t have any, if I recall, there was an open bar and I think I ended up shouting something unkind to Michael Musto.
posted by The Whelk at 6:54 AM on November 22, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 6:54 AM on November 22, 2019 [10 favorites]
Everyone has heard of this, but did you know that Ford Madox Ford was the inventor of the gravity bong?
posted by thelonius at 6:55 AM on November 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 6:55 AM on November 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
Us geezers recall this recipe when it previously made the rounds 50 years ago and inspired the movie "I love you Alice B. Toklas" starring Peter Sellers and Leigh Taylor-Young. Here's the brownie-making scene with the theme song.
posted by beagle at 6:59 AM on November 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by beagle at 6:59 AM on November 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
It’s also not ‘hashish.’ Baking with actual hash, which is often crumbly or doughy, seems like a possibility but canna butter is just a lot easier plus it can be made from the leaves and trim, etc.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:32 AM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:32 AM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
This recipe calls for a bunch of weed. We're not talking about two fatty nugs. This is probably several stems covered in buds. This will probably fuck up Alice's bridge club.
I'm not even going to get into whether pot is stronger today than it was back in her day.
posted by bilabial at 7:34 AM on November 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'm not even going to get into whether pot is stronger today than it was back in her day.
posted by bilabial at 7:34 AM on November 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Never make the mistake of cooking up a double batch of weed-infused chocolate brownies for an outing and that is quite literally the only thing you have to eat when the munchies arrive. A vicious circle that leaves unable to do anything but stuff more brownies in your face and moan. We had to start giving them away to save ourselves. The off-duty sheriffs playing softball nearby thought they were delicious...
posted by jim in austin at 8:36 AM on November 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by jim in austin at 8:36 AM on November 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
A whole nutmeg? That is a lot of nutmeg.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:39 AM on November 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:39 AM on November 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
Jim, I have had that dilemma before with brownies and have since then dreamed of savory alternative. Some sort of weed beef jerky, like those delicious spicy slimy beef jerky. Realistically I assume a SlimJim style beef jerky would be the easiest medium to add THC to.
posted by GoblinHoney at 8:40 AM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by GoblinHoney at 8:40 AM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
The more I read this, the more I recognize that this must have been some manner of inside joke. A teaspoon of black peppercorns AND 4 cinnamon sticks AND a whole nutmeg!? That's some manner of joke recipe. It certainly wouldn't be edible even with a lot of sugar and butter. It would be horrifically hot and awful. Even if someone were able to gag that down, why add the uncooked cannabis leaves, which would taste like slightly spicy lawn clippings? Come on, this isn't real. WTF, now I'm even more interested in what this was all about.
posted by Patapsco Mike at 8:50 AM on November 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Patapsco Mike at 8:50 AM on November 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
The whole nutmeg would probably get you more high than the cannabis, if you survived.
posted by ook at 8:54 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ook at 8:54 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
You will not feel any effects from eating unheated cannabis.
There are stories of Italian immigrant families being busted in the 50s/60s in Hamilton Ontario for growing what they thought was a salad green. IDK how real the stories are, but common enough that this was town folklore in the mid 1980s.
posted by bonehead at 9:32 AM on November 22, 2019
There are stories of Italian immigrant families being busted in the 50s/60s in Hamilton Ontario for growing what they thought was a salad green. IDK how real the stories are, but common enough that this was town folklore in the mid 1980s.
posted by bonehead at 9:32 AM on November 22, 2019
Obligatory - love to Miko
Much love to Miko, but that's not the same Alice. Alice of the restaurant probably knew how to make real pot brownies, though.
posted by beagle at 10:21 AM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Much love to Miko, but that's not the same Alice. Alice of the restaurant probably knew how to make real pot brownies, though.
posted by beagle at 10:21 AM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Alice's pot was not super-bred and hybridized like today's and was much weaker. Use caution.
posted by theora55 at 1:39 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 1:39 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
It does seem a lot of spice for a fairly small amount of ingredients. And I'd think it would be less like fudge than a sticky nut and fruit candy. That's around 2 cups of fruit and nuts and I'd think probably a quarter cup volume of ground spice, and only a cup of sugar and maybe a half cup of butter.
posted by tavella at 3:09 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by tavella at 3:09 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Though the writer and several commentators here at Mediblereview say that the original recipe does in fact work. The writer includes pre-ground substitutions but says that the freshly ground original recipe works better.
posted by tavella at 3:15 PM on November 22, 2019
posted by tavella at 3:15 PM on November 22, 2019
That recipe works because the flowers have already been heat treated to "decarboxylate" them. Following Toklas' original is basically just chopping up a bunch of ditchweed and mixing it with butter, sugar and a toxic amount of nutmeg.
posted by howfar at 4:26 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by howfar at 4:26 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
No, I meant that it was apparently tasty, despite what seems to be an extreme amount of spice. I think it's probably because if you use the whole spices, you grind them to sand rather than powder, so they aren't as strong.
posted by tavella at 6:21 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by tavella at 6:21 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Does anyone know whether CBD has the same constraints as THC for becoming biologically available in edibles?
posted by constantinescharity at 6:39 PM on November 22, 2019
posted by constantinescharity at 6:39 PM on November 22, 2019
The whole nutmeg would probably get you more high than the cannabis, if you survived.
Due to the severe side-effects, nutmeg is not a popular street drug. It is used most by underage students who are looking for a legal means of altering their consciousness as well as by prisoners who can acquire it more easily than illegal substances.
posted by thelonius at 6:46 PM on November 22, 2019
Due to the severe side-effects, nutmeg is not a popular street drug. It is used most by underage students who are looking for a legal means of altering their consciousness as well as by prisoners who can acquire it more easily than illegal substances.
posted by thelonius at 6:46 PM on November 22, 2019
Yeah wow, I guess now that it’s legal in places, so you can grow it yourself and it costs basically nothing. But we woulda never been that wasteful back in the day
So the year pot became legal in Canada I was incredibly weak from almost having hemorrhaged to death a few months before. I was basically housebound, often not leaving my forest home for a week or more (it was heaven!). I grew pot from seeds on my windowsill and planted them outside and nurtured them as a free thing to do when I had no money to support myself or my kids. I ended up with, I think, nine pretty big plants. I dried them and trimmed them (hippy-style because disposing of all the small leafs off the bud seemed wasteful) and packed the results into big mason jars for curing.
It was a great hobby during my recovery and my youngest thinks it may have turned me into a green witch. I didn’t do it the following year as I was working long hours, I had a killer three hour commute, and was at the Courthouse weekly trying to get my ex to comply with the Ordered child support. But I STILL have jars of the stuff. So for the past six months or so I have been baking brownies and bringing in a dozen or so to give to co-workers on a weekly basis. I’ve thrown a few parties where several jars have been out and emptied. I saved some of the bigger, foot-long buds and given them to my “best buds”. I have a nice time smoking some (a lot) with my ex when he visits the kids. I’m about halfway through my supply so I’m looking forward to growing some next summer because it truly was a fun project.
But damn, when they call it a weed, they weren’t joking.
posted by saucysault at 6:14 AM on November 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
So the year pot became legal in Canada I was incredibly weak from almost having hemorrhaged to death a few months before. I was basically housebound, often not leaving my forest home for a week or more (it was heaven!). I grew pot from seeds on my windowsill and planted them outside and nurtured them as a free thing to do when I had no money to support myself or my kids. I ended up with, I think, nine pretty big plants. I dried them and trimmed them (hippy-style because disposing of all the small leafs off the bud seemed wasteful) and packed the results into big mason jars for curing.
It was a great hobby during my recovery and my youngest thinks it may have turned me into a green witch. I didn’t do it the following year as I was working long hours, I had a killer three hour commute, and was at the Courthouse weekly trying to get my ex to comply with the Ordered child support. But I STILL have jars of the stuff. So for the past six months or so I have been baking brownies and bringing in a dozen or so to give to co-workers on a weekly basis. I’ve thrown a few parties where several jars have been out and emptied. I saved some of the bigger, foot-long buds and given them to my “best buds”. I have a nice time smoking some (a lot) with my ex when he visits the kids. I’m about halfway through my supply so I’m looking forward to growing some next summer because it truly was a fun project.
But damn, when they call it a weed, they weren’t joking.
posted by saucysault at 6:14 AM on November 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
Edibles are so risky. The best thing I did back in the day was make cannabutter: melt a whole container of margarine (has a higher smoke point than actual butter so easier to heat up) in a pan. Add weed. You can add the stemmy, seedy stuff. Simmer at a really low heat for a while...20 minutes or so? This takes the THC out of the plant matter and into the fat of the margarine. Strain the plant matter with a cheesecloth and throw away. This is a stinky process! Pick a time of day that your stove's vent doesn't catch the attention of the neighbors.
Pour the melted, pot-infused butter back into its container and pop back in the fridge. Voila! You have cannabutter. Spread it on whatever for a nice kick. Start minimal, a teeny little swab of it at first, until you are comfy with its effects.
posted by zardoz at 2:43 PM on November 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
Pour the melted, pot-infused butter back into its container and pop back in the fridge. Voila! You have cannabutter. Spread it on whatever for a nice kick. Start minimal, a teeny little swab of it at first, until you are comfy with its effects.
posted by zardoz at 2:43 PM on November 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
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