Advocaat

Advocaat (or advokatt) is a rich and creamy liqueur made from eggs, sugar and brandy. It has a smooth taste that is fairly similar to almonds. In English-speaking countries it generally contains 15% alcohol (30 proof), but in Continental Europe the typical alcohol content differs from country to country and is generally somewhere between 14% and 20% ABV. Its contents may be a blend of egg yolks, aromatic spirits, sugar or honey, brandy, vanilla and sometimes cream (or evaporated milk). Famous makers of advocaat include Warners, Bols, Verpoorten, Warninks, Cooymans and De Kuyper.

Types

Thick advocaat is sold on the Dutch and Tirolian markets and often eaten with a spoon, while a more liquid version is sold as an export. Thick advocaat contains egg yolk, and is used as an ingredient for several kinds of desserts such as ice cream and pastries. It is also served as an apéritif or digestif. The traditional way to serve it is in a wide glass with whipped cream and cocoa powder sprinkled on top.

In the export variety only the pure egg yolks are used, making it particularly well suited for cocktails and long drinks. The best known cocktail using advocaat is the Snowball: a mixture of advocaat, sparkling lemonade and sometimes lime juice, although this is not required for the drink. Another highly popular advocaat-based beverage is the Bombardino, a drink commonly found in Italian skiing settings, made by mixing advocaat, black coffee, and whiskey.

History

The original advocaat was a liquor made by the Dutch population of Suriname and Recife with avocados. Upon returning to the Netherlands, where avocados were not available, a similar texture was achieved with thickened egg yolk. The original Aztec name of the fruit, ahuacatl, was transliterated to Spanish as "abogado", the Spanish word for lawyer. Thus it was translated to many other continental languages as their word for lawyer. This led to the misidentification of the name's origin as relating to the Dutch legal community. Rompope of Puebla, Mexico, is a very similar liquor based on egg yolk and vanilla.

See also

*Eggnog
*Rompope
*Ponche crema
*Kogel mogel
*Zabaglione
*Coquito
*Eierpunsch

References

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