Samsou etc.
From: Grace Chew
Date: Tue, May 5, 2009 at 12:51 AM
Dear List:
(1) I came across this term while reading some French texts. It means 'boisson de Chinois' according to the definition given in 'Voyages aux Indes Orientales et a la Chine'. I wonder what this drink was?
(Actually it sounds more like Korean to me).
(2) Another question I have is: Does anyone know what 'D.C.G.G.' stands for in Vietnamese? It is an appellation for 'Duc Chua Troi'.
Many thanks in advance!
Best wishes,
Grace
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From: Hue-Tam Ho Tai
Date: Tue, May 5, 2009 at 6:13 AM
Dear Grace:
The first might be ginseng (sam)
For the second, could it be Duc Chua Gie-Su or Duc Chua Gie-Giu? I've never seen the second spelling, but the first is quite common.
Hue-Tam Ho Tai
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From: Erica J. Peters
Date: Tue, May 5, 2009 at 9:13 AM
Samsou is a strong rice alcohol according to these sources:
Voyage aux Indes Orientales et à la Chine, vol II, book 4 (Paris: 1782), p. 11
"En partant il donne au Capitaine...quatre grandes bouteilles de graie de Samsou [Note: Liqueur très-mauvaise tirée du riz que les Chinois appellent vin Mandarin.]"
Voyage de l'ambassade de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales hollandaises vers l'empereur de la Chine dans les années 1794 & 1795, Vol I. (Paris, 1798), p. 248.
"Samsou: Liqueur Chinoise tirée du riz par la distillation. Le samsou commun a un goût très-désagréable, mais celui de la Cour est au contraire très-bon."
Camille Paris, Voyage d'exploration de Huê en Cochinchine par la route mandarine (Paris, 1889), p. 269.
"...un flacon de choum-choum [Note: Eau-de-vie de riz ou samsou]."
Hope this is helpful.
Erica
Erica J. Peters
Culinary Historians of Northern California
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From: Erica J. Peters
Date: Tue, May 5, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Several late 19th century sources suggest that samsou/samshu/samchou comes from the Chinese word for three, and refers to the wine being distilled three times:
For instance: Samuel Wells Williams, The Middle Kingdom (1883), p. 808"... it is distilled two or three times, and it is this strong spirit alone which is rightly called samshu, a word meaning 'thrice fired.'"
But this other source doesn't like the derivation:
Archibald Ross Colquhoun, Across Chrysê, vol I (1883), p. 103: "a big dinner...was served to the men, with an allowance of shiu-chiu, or heated rice wine... The term sam-shu, by which the liquor is commonly known amongst Europeans, is said to be derived from sam-chiu, or 'thrice fired,' but this is doubtful."
Also, I've now stumbled on references to it as being made from corn, sorghum, millet, "or other grains," as well as rice. See, for instance:
Robert Montgomery Martin, China: Political, Commercial and Social, Vol II (London, 1847), p. 382: "samshu, an ardent spirit distilled from rice, millet or other grains."
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From: Liam C. Kelley
Date: Tue, May 5, 2009 at 11:52 AM
三燒酒 san shao jiu - thrice-fired wine/alcohol. The citations below are mixing up these three characters [see comments in brackets below], perhaps because different people had different names. A quick google search found an historical article about this type of drink in Taiwan:
〈「安平壺」與「三燒酒」〉，《臺灣文獻別冊》8 (2004)：2-9。
Liam Kelley
U of Hawaii
Archibald Ross Colquhoun, Across Chrysê, vol I (1883), p. 103: "a big dinner...was served to the men, with an allowance of shiu-chiu, or heated rice wine... The term sam-shu [san shao], by which the liquor is commonly known amongst Europeans, is said to be derived from sam-chiu [san jiu], or 'thrice fired,' but this is doubtful."