I was a colicky and fussy baby. During a visit to my grandparents' farm in Denmark, my grandmother found the antidote to my fidgeting; two or three drops of aquavit (a vodkalike elixir beloved by Scandinavians) into the baby bottle, and I would calm down.
I've had a taste for it ever since. To this day, a bottle of Aalborg Jubilaeums Aquavit, distilled in northern Denmark, is in perpetual residence in my freezer, as it is in that of almost every Dane I know, even here in Minnesota.
There are many national drinks destined to provoke embarrassing ethnic dancing, folk songs and fierce hangovers. The Russians have vodka. The Greeks have ouzo. The Italians Strega.
But aquavit, which the Danes have been drinking for about 500 years, is different.
Sure, like vodka, it's distilled from potatoes and wheat. But aquavit is usually distilled several more times than its coarser cousin, often with natural flavorings, from dill to orange rinds. Aquavit is also widely believed to have distinctive health qualities. This is, after all, a drink whose name means "water of life" in Latin.
Life-affirming drink
In the Middle Ages, there were several reports of dead people rising back to life after a glass of the stuff was poured down their throats -- which, given that aquavit is 40 to 45 percent alcohol, isn't that surprising. Even now, doctors routinely prescribe aquavit for health in Denmark. In fact, aquavit is served in drams, the measurement of a druggist rather than that of a bartender.
My Danish grandmother, a thoroughly sober but suspiciously cheerful lady, had a dram (about a shot) of aquavit most days of her 99 years. She used to pour a stemmed shot glass of aquavit every night and place it in her freezer for a gulp every morning.