sometimes called balm but not to be confused with the plants bearing that name, is a compound of plant resins mixed with volatile oils, insoluble in water, used in the past for medicinal purposes but also sometimes as a flavouring.
These substances were originally obtained from the Near and Middle East, as balsam of Gilead or Mecca, and their use for medicinal purposes was in line with the Arabic tradition. Pomet (1712) devoted a lengthy passage in his history of drugs to describing these and other sorts and explaining their various remarkable features, such as how the Sultan of Turkey caused each of the small trees which yielded the true balsam of Gilead to be guarded by soldiers. The discovery of the New World added balsam of Peru and of Tolu (now Santiago de Tolu, in Colombia) to the list; and these too were described by Pomet.
Balsam of Tolu is produced by collecting the resin from incisions in the bark of the plant Myroxylon balsamum and letting it harden into cakes in the sun. It can then be used as an alcoholic tincture or dissolved in water with the aid of mucilage or egg yolk. It occurs in some early English recipes, e.g. Artificial Asses' Milk (Hannah Glasse, 1747), but has declined from having little culinary significance to having none.
See also balsamic vinegar.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Glasse, Hannah (1747), The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, facsimile of 1st edn, London: Prospect Books (1983).
Pomet, Monsieur (1712), A Compleat History of Druggs (trans from the French), vols i, ii, London.
