Dawamesk
Dawamesk (more rarely: Davamesk ) is an intoxicating candy from the Orient that contains cannabis flowers or hashish . In its composition, Dawamesk is similar to the Indian Laddu and the Moroccan Majoun . Dawamesk is offered and consumed as a confectionery ball, paste or "jam".
The basic ingredients of Dawamesk are usually cannabis-containing butter, one or more sweeteners (honey, sugar, dates , figs ), chopped or ground nuts (walnuts, almonds, pistachios , pine nuts ) and various spices and flavors ( anise , cocoa, cardamom, Nutmeg, clove , orange juice, vanilla, cinnamon).
The intoxicating effect arises from the cannabis in combination with the spices used, of which at least nutmeg and clove are psychoactive. According to the members of the Club des Hachichins ( Eng . "Club of hashish eaters "), Dawamesk was the narcotic with which the old man from the mountains stunned and deceived his assassins .
Le Club des Hachichins
Through the Paris Club des Hachichins founded by the doctor Jacques-Joseph Moreau , Dawamesk achieved at least literary fame, because the "hashish club" included the writers Charles Baudelaire , Alexandre Dumas , Gérard de Nerval and Théophile Gautier . In his luridly written essay Le Club des Hachichins , Théophile Gautier described the course of an evening with Dawamesk:
“He took a paste or greenish jam from a crystal vase and put a thumb-sized dab on each saucer next to the spoon. "The spicy sweetness was then contrasted with a bitter note:" After everyone had eaten their little bit, we were served coffee in the Arabic style, ie with a sentence and without sugar. "
In a “parenthesis”, Gautier continued: “ The doctor's green paste was just the same that the old man from the mountain gave his fanatical followers without their being aware of it. "
The poet Charles Baudelaire, who also took part, described the composition of the intoxicating paste in his "Poem of hashish": " The fat extract of hashish, as the Arabs prepare it, is made by boiling the tips of the fresh leaves in butter with a little water (... ) because of its foul odor, which increases over time, the Arabs process the fat extract in jams. The most common type of these jams, the davamesk, is a mixture of extract, sugar and various spices such as vanilla, cinnamon, pistachio and nutmeg. "
Nerval processed the collective intoxication experience in his story of the caliph Hakem: “The stranger stretched out his hand, took the cup and slowly began to taste the green paste. 'Well, companion,' said Yusuf when he saw this interruption in the intoxication of the unknown, 'what do you think of this honorable pistachio jam? Do you still condemn these good people here who come together peacefully in a room to be happy in their own way? '"
The writer Honoré de Balzac also visited the hashish eaters' club, but only as a silent observer. Baudelaire said: “ He was offered Davamesk: he looked at it, smelled it and gave it back without touching it. "
literature
- Primary literature
- Théophile Gautier: Le Club des Hachichins , Paris 1846. Club of Hashish Eaters . Reprint in: Wiener Zeitschrift für Suchtforschung , 2/3, 2004.
- Charles Baudelaire: La poème du hachich , Paris 1860. The artificial paradises / The poetry of hashish , Zurich 2000, ISBN 3-7175-4002-5 .
- Secondary literature
- Hans-Georg Behr : We are talking about hemp. Culture and politics of a plant , Sphinx, Basel 1982, pp. 131-137, ISBN 3-85914-605-X .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Arno Widmann: Dawamesk in: Die Zeit No. 40/1995.
- ↑ Charles Baudelaire: The Artificial Paradises, Chapter 3, II. What is the hashish? on: Project Gutenberg-DE .
- ^ Gérard de Nerval: Journey to the Orient , Munich 1986.
- ^ Charles Baudelaire: The artificial paradises, Chapter 3, V. Morals on: Project Gutenberg-DE.