Lost Recipes of Prohibition

If ever there were a case to be made for kismet, is in your hands.The utility of what's here is no trifle, but only Matt could have entertainingly illuminated not just the artifact but all its implications…Buy this, you will not be bored.

~ Max Watman, author of Chasing the White Dog

This is a must-have for anyone who enjoys a good cocktail–or the discovery of buried treasure.

~ Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist

Nobody is more familiar with the dark caverns of drinks history than Matthew Rowley, and Lost Recipes of Prohibition is an eye-opening exploration of the era, turning up many rich rewards.

~ Paul Clarke, author of The Cocktail Chronicles

Few people on earth have the authority to unveil such a treasure trove as Matthew Rowley does. Immerse yourself in the epic journey cocktail archaeology contained within these pages.

~ Jeffrey Morgenthaler, author of The Bar Book

Matthew Rowley found his way into Prohibitions crypt, returned with a notebook scrolled crabbed hieroglyphics, and took the time to translate it for those curious about how one drank when one couldn't drink. Fascinating and revealing!

~ Wayne Curtis, author of And a Bottle of Rum

Buy Lost Recipes of Prohibition at Kitchen Arts & Letters, Powell’s, Amazon, or your local bookseller.

Lost Recipes of Prohibition was a 2015 finalist for the James Beard Awards. The book is an exploration of the secret notebook of a New York-based Jazz Age physician. The handwritten recipes for liquors, cordials, and remedies are written in English, German, and Latin (plus the occasional mashup) and detail exactly the sorts of suspect beverages you’d expect from Prohibition-era bootleggers. It also includes notes for analyzing spirits as well as directions for making syrups, tinctures, bitters, and elegant cordials such as anisette and Eiskümmel, a caraway-flavored liqueur frosted with delicate sugar crystals, culled from the German-born doctor’s background. Lost Recipes traces those recipes and formulas from ancient Rome through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, through Prohibition and to modern times. It explains how to work with essential oils and includes cocktail recipes from modern bartenders.