FOOD Newsstand Special 2015

A SUBSTANCE, LIKE A PERSON, MAY HAVE DISTINCT AND EVEN contradictory aspects to its personality. Today ethyl alcohol, the drinkable species of alcohol, is a multifaceted entity; it may be social lubricant, sophisticated dining companion, cardiovascular health benefactor or agent of de struction. Throughout most of Western civilization’s history, however, alcohol had a far different role. For most of the past 10 millennia, alcoholic beverages may have been the most popular and common daily drinks, indispensable sources of fluids and calories. In a world of contaminated and dangerous water supplies, alcohol truly earned the title granted it in the Middle Ages: aqua vitae, the “water of life.” Western civilization has wine and beer to thank for nourishment and hydration during most of the past 10,000 years. Before the very recent availability of clean, pure water, alcoholic beverages may have been the only safe liquids to drink.